


Freakazoid Reuploaded!

by LizardScalesFairyTales



Category: Freakazoid (Cartoon)
Genre: Action/Adventure, He is literally the internet, Origin Story, Super Heros!, Super Villains!, What Did You Expect, i have to, meme references, so many origin stories
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-01
Updated: 2018-03-06
Packaged: 2019-03-25 19:14:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 8
Words: 47,579
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13841232
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LizardScalesFairyTales/pseuds/LizardScalesFairyTales
Summary: The Internet's a big place, and it's only gotten bigger! Freakaziod came about during a time when cyberspace was only a single drop in the now oceanic mass it's become. So, let's see what we can do with this well of inspiration if we inject it directly into the puny brain of mild mannered, Dexter Douglas! This is Freakazoid: Reuploaded!





	1. Chapter 1! Freak Out!

Dexter Douglas was about to FREAK OUT! Despite being in his favorite class (Science would always have a special place in his heart after his teacher set the floor on fire on the first day of school to demonstrate the Leidenfrost effect) and knowing it was less than five minutes till the bell rang and school was out, he was about 43 seconds away from a total meltdown.

His day had started normally enough. Duncan, his older brother, had elbowed him in the hallway when their Mom had announced she was making pancakes. Dexter's Dad hadn't looked up from the morning paper while he'd told Duncan to stop kicking his brother from under the table, and Dexter had been subject to teasing and name calling from said brotherly nuisance the entire bus ride to school. All in all, a typical day in the life of Dexter Douglas.

Things had only started to really go downhill during gym class, which wouldn't have been surprising under normal circumstance, but today was a very unpleasant exception. You see, Dexter Douglas was what one might call a nerd. No, not the cliché, he-reads-books-and-wears-glasses type nerd, (although he was that type as well), Dexter was a goes-on-an-hour-long-tangent-about-climate-change nerd. You know, like an actually intelligent person who also might have a slight obsession with comics, cartoons, and staying informed on current events.

Despite what the media may tell you, being into Star Wars and Anime wasn't something people really got much flack about, in fact, it usually ended up making you more friends. In reality, the kids who get bullied are usually the type of people who point out that trying to look up girls skirts on the stairs is "creepy" and "wrong", or that calling your fellow teammates "gay' for missing the basket was "kinds homophobic, guys". It was this last example that landed Dexter in hot water.

While playing basketball with his more athletic teammates, Dexter had made the rookie mistake of pointing out casual homophobia while only 6 feet away from one of the most notorious Zero Tolerance enforcers in school, their gym teacher, Mrs. Running. Everything else had gone downhill from there. After shrinking away from his teammates withering glares, Mrs. Running had stalked out from the shadows and taken their team aside for a "talk".

"I can understand a little playful ribbing here and there, but as Dexter so eloquently put, referring to your fellow teammates as 'gay' is completely unacceptable! Now, since this is your first offense, I'm going to be lenient with your punishment and only make you come to school tomorrow at 8 o'clock to help clean up around the gym. Unless you want detention."

Mrs. Running turned to an anxious looking Dexter and smiled in a way that was probably supposed to be seen as comforting. "Except you of course Dexter, thank you for speaking up dear."

Dexter had watched in horror as the eyes of all his teammates had narrowed at him in sync, collectively attempting to bore holes straight through his skull for the rest of gym class. In an attempt to avoid any conflict, he'd stayed behind and put away basketballs as slowly as he possibly could, hoping that by the time he was finished the locker room would be empty.

As he finally made his way to the locker room to change out of his gym clothes, he was unpleasantly surprised with what he found waiting for him. His teammates, along with some others he hadn't upset earlier, were gathered around his open locker and seemed to be rummaging around with his stuff. Before he could make a hasty retreat, his sneakers squeaked traitorously and Dexter froze as the group of jocks heads whipped around in unison.

"Well, well, well, would you look who it is! Hey Dexter. Feeling pretty good about yourself, huh?"

Jimmy Nasium stuffed Dexters things back into his locker as his posse blocked off the exit and circled Dexter threateningly.

"I'm supposed to be at a party tomorrow DexTurd. Now, thanks to you? I'm gonna be stuck cleaning up gym supplies! You know I was the one who was supposed to bring the beer? Without me, that holiday party's gonna tank and it's all your fault!"

Jim's right hand man Rick O'Shea shoved Dexter to the floor roughly and grunted in agreement. Dexter shuffled away from the steadily encroaching jocks in fear. He hadn't been beat up in a while, and he'd really been hoping to keep it that way.

"I-I didn't mean for Mrs. Running to punish you guys! It was an accident, I swear!"

Before he could stutter out an apology, Jim scoffed and grabbed Dexter by his collar, yanking him forward and leveling him with a glare.

"Everyone knows you're a brown nosing, teacher's pet Dexter. If you see an opportunity to get some extra credit or a pat on the head, you'll sell anyone out."

With a painful jerk, Jim slammed Dexter's back into his locker and pulled him forward again.

"The thing is? I knew the second I got stuck with you on my team you were gonna drag us down. After all, what would you know about working with others? Nobody would be caught dead hanging out with a snot nosed, tattle tale like you."

Jim slammed Dexter into his locker in frustration once more and loosened his grip as Dexter's glasses slid down his nose pitifully.

"I honestly don't get why Steff even bothers with you…"

Dexter took in a shaky breath and weakly tried to pull himself up. He wished he could look Jim in the eye and tell him off, but Dexter couldn't even bring himself to look the guy in the eye most days, much less talk back. Maybe Jim was right...

"Tomorrow, you're going to explain to that you made a huge mistake, and then you're going to apologize and clean up the gym for us. I'm not missing that party and wasting my vacation just because your gay ass can't take a joke."

Jim finally let go of Dexter's collar and stepped back, seemingly satisfied with the level of dishevelment Dexter had reached.

"But-! I can't just- She won't believe me! If you guys don't go…"

Suddenly, Rick charged forward and punched Dexter straight in the gut, winding him and knocking his glasses clean off.

"Just. Take. Care of it."

Jim knelt down in front of Dexter as he struggled desperately to breathe and laughed good naturedly.

"The teachers love you Dexter. I'm sure you and Running will work something out."

Jim idly picked up Dexter's fallen glasses and placed them crookedly on Dexter's reddened and teary face, smile darkening as he leaned forward and and lowered his voice.

"And if I hear anything about our little talk here? In fact, if I hear anything about you making trouble like today again? I'll destroy you Dexter. I. Will. End you."

Dexter nodded eagerly, internally begging whatever higher being that allowed all of this to happen to just let this godforsaken interaction end.

"Good! Have fun at school tomorrow!"

Dexter closed his eyes and let out a shaky sigh, not daring to move away from his locker until he was alone. After that sound of sneaker finally faded he stood on trembling legs and opened his locker to change out of his sweaty gym clothes.

"...You've got to be kidding me."

Dexter groaned, his clothes were soaking wet. What was more, all his textbooks and folders looked like someone had stepped on them, which probably wasn't far from the truth. He attempted to pull his clothes from his locker in hopes he could dry them out but quickly jerked his hand away as the scent of them reached his nose.

"Oh! That's just…! Gross!"

Dexter slammed his locker closed in frustration, hugging his dirty and torn textbooks and folders to his chest as he made his way to the bathroom. After making sure the bathroom was clear and finding an empty stall, Dexter sat down and finally let himself cry. He knew it wasn't really his fault, but that didn't stop him from thinking of every possible route he could have taken to avoid all this.

He'd been so stupid, saying what he had out loud, but he'd just been so annoyed that every time he'd missed a basket someone called him gay. It wasn't only hurtful, but just a screwed up insult in general. He hadn't even expected anyone to hear him, but of course Mrs. Running had been listening. Lord forbid he catch a break for once.

Things had actually been looking up for once too. There was a con coming up, he'd finally saved up enough money to get some special computer parts he'd been wanting, and he'd managed to stay out of trouble for a whole month now. Way to kill a winning streak Dexter.

How was he gonna manage to convince Mrs. Runner that she hadn't heard what she and probably the entire gym class had obviously heard? She would tear any excuse he made up to shreds, and she'd probably write up Jim and his posse for detention if they didn't show up tomorrow. If she did that, they'd kill him for sure!

"I just can't win…"

Dexter sighed to himself as he finished recounting his misfortune. He was so lost in thought that he flinched in surprise as the bell rang, signaling that school was out. His fellow classmates made their way to the door, completely ignoring Professor Stein as he attempted to hand out science fair pamphlets. Dexter smiled at his teacher sympathetically and Prof Stein smiled back and handed him a pamphlet.

"I hope I can expect something exciting from you again this year Mr. Douglas" Prof Stein encouraged.

Dexter took out a book from his backpack and nodded enthusiastically.

"Actually, I was reading this book on dinosaurs and the latests revelations in their actual appearances and behaviors! I was thinking of making a digital replica of what a dinosaur would actually look like of I were to apply all this newfound research!"

Prof Stein nodded proudly as he gathered his teaching binder and laughed.

"I can't wait to see what you make of their collective research ! Just don't be afraid to insert your own thoughts and theories as well. Considering your history of study into your subjects of choice, who knows? You may just be the one to make the next scientific breakthrough in dinosaur biology!"

Dexter nodded and waved goodbye to Prof Stein as he left the classroom, leaving Dexter to his own thoughts again. He thought about heading straight home, but the thought of dealing with his jerky brother and his lackluster parents was exhausting. He opened his book and skimmed it over silently. His computer parts would be arriving today, but it wasn't like they couldn't wait. He just wanted to read his book and not have to worry about bullies or teasing or his inevitable destruction at the hands of Jim and his posse. Was that too much to ask?

-er! Dexaroonie? Hellooooo? I have something amazing to show you~."

Dexter blinked in confusion as he suddenly became aware that someone was speaking to him and waving something in his face. Someone named…

"Steff?"

Stephanie Stewart grinned impatiently and nodded.

"Duh! Who else? Now are you ready? I've been waiting to show you this all day!"

Dexter's brain stalled as he tried to remember what it was she was referring to. Then it hit him. The con! Steff had agreed to help Dexter make a cosplay for it a few weeks ago and she had been telling him she was working on the sketches. Dexter nodded, realizing he was being a bit slow to respond.

"Yeah! Sure, lay it on me."

Steff straightened up and cleared her throat theatrically, raising the folded paper slowly.

"Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No! It's…"

Steff opened the folded paper with a snap of her wrist. "Bird Plane Man!"

Steff waved her cosplay blueprints in front of Dexter's face enthusiastically as she leaning forward eagerly.

"What do you think Dex?"

Dexter Douglas wasted no time in responding to her enthusiasm in kind, closing his book as an impressed grin broke across his face.

"It's great! I love It!"

Taking a closer look at the detailed notes Dexter adjusted his glasses thoughtfully.

"Are you going to make the feathers out of paper or fabric? Orrrrr…?"

She carefully refolded the costume sketch and smiled proudly.

"Nope! It's going to be authentic bald eagle feathers. Once you make a true American cosplay of a true American hero, you have to go ALL the way with it."

"Oh."

Sliding onto her desk behind him, Steff unfolded her sketch again and looked it over thoughtfully.

"I just wish I could get more of them. There won't be any new supplies until January!" She huffed.

Dexter stowed his book away in his backpack making sure to bookmark his page and turned in his seat to face her.

"Well, online shops still exist, we could order some there. With express shipping you should have enough time before the con. In fact, I ordered some new computer parts yesterday night the same way and they should be arriving today."

Steff smiled placatingly in the face of Dexter's enthusiasm and shrugged.

"Oh, I never actually shop online! I like buying physical things and knowing exactly what I'm getting. Does that make me a caveman?"

Dexter deflated a bit but shrugged back good naturedly.

"It's fine. To each their own."

Sensing a lull in their conversation, Dexter frowned a bit as certain thoughts wormed their way back into his mind.

"Hey Steff…"

Hearing the change in tone, Steff lowered her sketch and looked to Dexter in concern. He idly pulled at the hem of his shirt and glanced at his shoes shyly.

"You sure I'm not...bothering you too much?"

Steff relaxed her shoulders and smiled, responding with no hesitation.

"No silly!

Sliding off her desk, she made her way to the classroom door as she continued in a cheery, casual air.

"ACTUAL bothering would end with me blocking you from all social media and purging you from my life and memories. Fortunately for you, I enjoy making cosplays!"

Dexter smiled, unconsciously relaxing his posture as he did. Sliding out from his desk he slung his backpack over his shoulder and followed Steff as she strode out the classroom. She slowed a bit so Dexter could catch up and pulled him closer, giving his shoulder a reassuring squeeze.

"Besides, I like seeing you all excited and passionate about things! As far as I'm concerned, your interests are my interests."

Dexter smiled softly at the contact, hiding a small wince as the bruise on his stomach ached. Steff was probably Dexters best and only friend. Not that he was complaining. They'd been friends since pre school, but they'd recently gotten a lot closer this year. Dexter didn't really know the reason, but he'd thank his lucky stars for whatever it was every day. Steff was smart, funny, super talented in sports and artistic design, and she was, in Dexter's opinion, the prettiest girl in school.

As Dexter waved goodbye to Steff and they parted ways, Dexter to his home, Steff to her parents car, he couldn't help the blush that rose on his cheeks as she blew him a kiss.

He knew she didn't mean it like that, but what could he do? He'd had a thing for her since the 3rd grade! Besides, it was just a crush. He actually really valued his friendship with her, and he wasn't about to risk it for some stupid, one sided infatuation. She deserved to be in a relationship with a super good looking, awesome guy who she was head over heels in love with, and he just couldn't imagine being that for her. Dexter had a mirror, he knew was no prince charming.

Dexter sighed as Duncan tossed a crumpled chunk of paper at his head from behind him (probably his homework). Maybe he was just looking at this all wrong? He just needed to look at the bright side of things for once, be more positive, like those throwaway inspirational quotes on his moms facebook page. After all, there was still a whole bunch of great things going for him! He was best friends with his favorite person in the world, he was getting good grades in all his classes (Even gym!), there was an exciting con coming up that he knew was gonna be fun, and with any luck, today was the day he'd finally be getting a Pinnacle chip!

Dexter smiled as Harry Connick High School faded behind him, spirits brightening. He'd been researching computer upgrades for months after saving up enough money and the second he'd laid eyes on the pinnacle chip he knew that he had to have it. Sadly, it hadn't been released yet, but the minuet it had, Dexter had probably one of the first to order one.

So what if today had been a bust? Dexter still had something to look forward to, and he wasn't going to let anything get in the way of that.

==========================================================================================================

MEANWHILE

"No! You listen to _me!_ "

The sun reflected brightly against the sheer glass windows of the Apex Microchips Tower in the center of town. One particular Tower window of clean city glass peered into the office of none other than Armando Guitierrez, owner and president of Apex Industries.

"I have the perfect idea for the new ad! This is all we need!"

Gutierrez paced confidently across his carpeted office floor, cell phone clenched tightly. He turned to his office window and stared with focused eyes at the city skyline, an incredible view to be sure.

"It's simple, yet super effective. Just two words-"

Guitierrez paused and looked down at his free hand, brows creasing at the simi legible scrawl across his palm.

"Wrapping. Lumbar."

He grinned proudly for a moment before frowning at the callers response.

"Sir, rapping mascots died out at least a decade ago…"

Before he could respond, Gutierrez's call was cut short by an unexpected guest.

"CRUUUUUUD!"

Guitierrez whipped his head around just in time to see his employee and coworker, Roddy MacStew, literally kick the door open.

"Disaster! Catastrophe! Un-Be-Lievable!"

Roddy's hands shook with unbridled urgency as he crumpled scattered notes of binary and code in his hands. Not bothering to give a proper goodbye given the circumstances, Gutierrez quietly hung up and stowed his phone away, remaining calm in the face of Roddy's anger.

"Easy, MacStew, what's the matter?"

Roddy waved his now crumpled notes urgently at Gutierrez.

"Our new Pinnacle chip...is flawed!"

Gutierrez's face noticeably darkened at the revelation and he straightened, turning to look more closely at Roddy.

"Flawed? How exactly?"

Roddy began to pace as he looked to his notes, hand reaching to idly pull at his hair as he explained.

"Well, first, the user has to be connected to the Internet. Then, a precise sequence of keys has to be typed into the address bar of the browser followed by DELETE. If this was done, the chip would release a powerful energy blast transferring information from the entire Internet directly into the users mind, subsequently giving them godlike powers that NO ONE should possess!"

Gutierrez listened to Roddy's exposition thoughtfully, face never betraying any emotion beside a neutral frown. After Roddy had seemingly finished, he cocked his head slightly and leaned forward.

"Oh my. That sounds incredibly contrived and unlikely. Are you sure about all that?"

Roddy huffed and threw down his notes in frustration.

"As certain as debt and taxes! We need to stop production IMMEDIATELY!"

Side stepping the piles of crumpled papers, Gutierrez straightened his tie and shook his head calmly.

"I'm afraid that's impossible, my friend. Too many of them have already been sold for the holiday season! Tell me, what are the odds of any of this happening?"

"450,000,00 to 1." Roddy grumbled, scowling at Gutierrez as he scooped up his disheveled notes from the floor warily.

Gutierrez scoffed, shrugging as he turned away from the disgruntled worker.

"That settles it then. There is no way I would risk my reputation because of such a RIDICULOUSLY slim chance!"

Roddy clutched his notes to his chest like an old southern woman clutching her pearls.

"ANY chance of this happening is extremely dangerous! Either you're canceling everything or I'm leaving this company!"

Gutierrez turned to look over Roddy's disheveled form, visibly unimpressed.

"Well, the door is right there." He conceded, jerking his thumb to his office door.

Roddy spluttered for a moment, aghast and very offended.

"I'm one of your best employees!?"

Guitierrez grinned confidently and loomed over Roddy.

"A good employee doesn't sabotage sales."

Roddy's expression hardened and he jerked back, roughly bumping his shoulder with Gutierrez's as he made his way to the door.

"I'll tell everyone Gutierrez! Through word of mouth and the Internet! People will find out eventually."

Perturbed, Guitierrez scowled and spun around to face him.

"Oh! Is that so? Then I will search for your name online and leave mean comments under your announcements!"

Guitierrez suddenly collected himself and smirked.

"Either way, you would never actually risk letting anyone know of the flaw and discovering the sequence, would you?"

Roddy growled and made his way out of Gutierrez's office, casting one last glance back at his former boss before heading towards the hallway.

"Crud Gutierrez! I swear, If anything goes wrong…"

Guitierrez waited for a few minuets to make sure Roddy was well on his way out, then walked over to his desk and pressed his security button. In moments, armored men filed into his office.

"Follow Roddy MacStew! Make sure he isn't aware of your presence and do not engage without my say so. Report back to me if he speak to or corresponds with anyone!"

The men saluted and filed out of the room dutifully, and Guitierrez turned to look out his office window at the company parking lot. Far down below, he watched as Roddy's small figure stomped over to his car and drove off.

"God-like powers, huh? We'll have to see then, won't we MacStew?"

Guitierrez was no fool. He understood that a scientific marvel like this could not be wasted. What kind of idiot would he be, to discontinue and throw out the chips? No, he had a much better plan. Let the public use them to their hearts content, if nothing happened, then nothing happened! Another successful Apex product. And if MacStew tracked down some hapless victim? Well, free test subjects were free test subjects! Who was he to put them to waste?

"Let us see what this Pinnacle chip can really do!"

========================================================================================

Dexter hummed to himself as he slowly made his way towards him home. Duncan had rushed passed him earlier, seeming to only do so out of pure spite, not that it mattered. Dexter was too focused on planning a relaxing afternoon finishing his homework and upgrading his computer. Maybe he could even catch up on playing some Game Guy too! Dexter finally made his way up his porch and pushed open the door, greeted with the sight of his father still reading the same paper he'd been reading that same morning.

"Looking chirpy today Dexter." His dad hummed, not bothering to actually look up from his paper. Dexter honestly thought his dad had perfected the art of awareness when it came to being simultaneously oblivious and hyper aware of all his surroundings. Or maybe his dad was really good at guessing, who knows?

"Sweet holiday season is here." Dexter explained, stretching in the doorway. "And nothing is going to ruin it!"

Almost as if in response to Dexter's happiness, Duncan saw fit to rear his sorry head.

"Hey Dexterior! Com'ere, I'll make a Christmas turdukan out of you!"

Dexter slumped and turned away, wondering if making a mad dash for his room was still an option.

"Oh Boy."

Ignoring Dexter's response Duncan stomped over to Dexter with his usual threatening air.

"I got caught with your stupid cheat sheet, Dexturd."

Dexter scowled. "I told you that recapping the entire textbook on a tiny piece of paper was a bad idea!"

Duncan looked unimpressed at Dexter's response and socked him in the arm in response.

"What was that?"

Rubbing his now sore arm Dexter weakly countered.

"I said, if you stopped cheating-"

Duncan quickly yanked Dexter forward by his collar and held his free arm out in a ready-to-punch motion.

"What was that?" He repeated.

"Duncan? Are you trying to dislocate Dexter's shoulder again?" Douglas said casually, eyes still glued to his newspaper. "Stop that."

Duncan looked at his father, moments away from socking Dexter in the jaw, before scoffing and shoving Dexter aside. Their mom came into the room just as Duncan made his way up the stairs, cherry grin plastered on her face, as always.

"Please focus on dislocating the trash from your room, Honey." She called after Duncan sweetly before turning to a disgruntled Dexter. "Dex,Your computer parts have arrived sweetie."

Dexter smiled and took the box eagerly. "Already? Sweet! Thanks mom! I'm gonna go put this in!"

Dexter made his way to his room excitedly, his mother smiling as her son disappeared around the corner.

"It's nice that he's so good with technology." Douglas said matter-of-factly, eyes still trained on his paper.

"Years of constructing lego sets for Duncan have finally paid off!" Debbie chirped as she went back to whatever joy sucking menial task she had been occupied with earlier.

Dexter hurried past Duncan's open door, pretending to not hear his brother call after him and made a beeline to his room, slamming the door behind him. After locking the door, Dexter slid into his favorite chair next to his desk and set the box on his lap. Mr. Chubbikins meowed lazily to Dexter, hopping off his bed and waddling to his feet needily.

"Hey Mr. Chubbikins. Guess what I got?"

Mr. Chubbikins meowed again, ignoring his question in favor of getting scratches behind his ears and purring softly. Dexter smiled at his cute, chubby cat and shook his head.

"Good guess, but no cigar. Well, let me show you then."

Dexter took his exact-o knife off his desk and cut away the labels and tape securing the box, setting the box carefully upright on his lap.

"And now...Presenting our special guest…"

Dexter peeled back the box cover and pulled out a small metallic chip from copious amounts of packing peanuts and styrofoam molds.

"The Pinnacle Chip!"

After looking over the scientific marvel in glee, Dexter glanced over to Mr. Chubbikins for his reaction. Mr. Chubbikins did what any cat would do in the face of such a dramatic reveal, and yawned. Dexter 'Awww'd internally at the sight, then got to work opening his computer and inserting the chip.

He didn't need to look at the instructions of course. The day he'd ordered the Pinnacle Chip, he'd learned everything there was to know about it out of sheer excitement. He quickly disassembled and reassembled his computer and placed his monitor on top carefully, turning his computer on and opening Oogle Nome.

"Now, some tea would be great..."

As Dexter got up and went to get himself a much deserved hot beverage, Mr. Chubbikins became enthralled with the shimmering wings of a small butterfly hovering around the monitor on Dexter's desk. Mr. Chubbikins stealthy (or as stealthily as a chunky cat could) hopped up Dexter's chair and onto his keyboard. Unbeknownst to Mr. Chubbikins, with every clumsy swipe at the elusive butterfly, he was entering the exact keys needed to set in motion some very upsetting events. Bad kitty!

"Mr. Chubbikins!"

Dexter set aside his cup of tea and lifted his chunky cat away from his keyboard. Mr. Chubbikins meowed in protest, but otherwise didn't put up much of a fight.

"Look what you've done…"

Dexter set his cat aside and sat down, looking over Mr. Chubbikins awful attempt at typing for a moment before reaching for his keyboard and pressing DELETE.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Xamag-Main on Tumblr was the inspiration for this story! Seriously, go check out their art and ideas and tell me you're not inspired. They also have a Youtube channel where they made three whole videos storyboarding a remake of the origin story for the Freakazoid episode The Chip. I can only hope they keep making more Freakazoid content, because the rest of the world is definitely slacking! Feedback is super appreciated!


	2. Chapter 2! The Freak is in!

Dexter Douglas had never seen so many colors in his entire life. In fact, he'd never heard so many colors either, but that was only because until now, he'd never heard colors before. He could hear them now though, and colors? They screamed. A violent rainbow of useless knowledge bombarded Dexter directly in the face, sparing no time in completely eviscerating his young mind with the entirety of human knowledge. And then some.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Somewhere in the edges of his consciousness, Dexter registered the distinct feeling of something rustling about inside his head. It was kind of hard to concentrate on though, because he was currently too focused on the feeling of his skull ripping apart and fusing back together again. He could see everything, but at the same time he was being blinded by a trillion different colorful images, and deafened by a zillion different sounds. Everything was happening at once and yet maybe nothing had ever happened before right now?

Mr. Chubbikins screeched in an ungodly manner that would have shocked and appalled Dexter had he been anywhere near functioning at the moment. Thankfully, Dexter's own screams were drowning out all the other upsetting sounds like his scalding tea toppling over or the cat having its second conniption fit in the last 2 seconds this whole mess had begun.

{Due to the lack of budget, creativity and patience,

we leave the cool transformation thingie up to your

own imagination.}

Deafening Silence.

Now kids, when someone uses the phrase, "Deafening Silence" like I just did, it means that this silence is no ordinary, run-of-the-mill, dime-a-dozen silence! This silence is very special. An "advanced silence", if you will. When someone, like me, uses the phrase, "Deafening Silence" that means the sounds that came before the silence were some pretty loud noise making! Like, I'm talking some serious cacophony must've been happening to make the silence itself, deafening.

What Dexter Douglas experienced that fateful day, alone with nothing but a cup of tea and a chubby fat cat, was probably the best example of deafening silence in human history.

Dexter sat is shock for a moment, eyes staring unseeing at his warm, black computer monitor, his mind for this last, blissful moment, completely blank.

And then someone broke. Someone NEW.

An electric current mercilessly shocked them silly, knocking it's victim clean to the back wall of Dexter's room. Their form slumped against Dexter's bookshelf for a moment, clothes worryingly burnt and torn. Mr. Chubbikins, who had wisely crawled under Dexter's desk after their second fit, watched the still figure in silence for a moment, before slowly stalking towards them and giving them a cautionary sniff.

And then, once more, there was Deafening Si-

"HOLY UNDECLARED IDENTIFIERS! NOW THAT'S A SHAKEUP!"

The disturbingly enthusiastic stranger flipped onto their feet, shaky hands running through static heavy black hair. Wide bloodshot eyes and an even wider smile stretched across a scratched up, excited face. As Dexter's glasses slipped down the strangers nose, their fidgety hands took turns between patting themself down, pulling at their wild hair, and adjusting and re-adjusting Dexter's glasses. As their eyes greedily took in all their surroundings, well defined muscles rippled and twitched with barely restrained energy. Their skin was blue.

I just thought I should add that.

Mr. Chubbikins froze in shock, or at least the cat equivalent of human shock, and lowered in some vain attempt to not catch the manic stranger's attention. Thankfully, the stranger was a bit occupied with other things.

"GEE, MY HEAD IS SPLITTING!" He exclaimed, hands clutching his abused noggin in confusion.

"SO MANY THINGS TO DISAGREE WITH MYSELF ON!" He groaned, clawing his hands down his face in frustration. "SO MUCH NONSENSICAL HUMOR TO PROCESS!"

Mr. Chubbikins took this opportunity to attempt escape and took a hesitant step backwards, but to no avail.

"A CAT!" The stranger pointed with both hands at the feline enthusiastically, then leaned threateningly closer, hands clenching into fists with some thinly restrained purpose.

"I LOVE CATS!"

Mr. Chubbikins, officially frozen in fear, or some cat equivalent to human fear, made no response. The stranger seemed to have the attention span of a hamster on speed, and so suddenly stood and took on a thoughtful expression.

"ACTUALLY, I HAVE THE MIGHTIEST NEED TO PUNCH SOMEONE RIGHT NOW."

As the stranger thought for a moment about their intended victim, a spark suddenly shot up the strangers side, and in a whirlwind of nonsense, Dexter Douglas stood, disheveled, and afraid.

"Oh my God! I need to see a Doctor!"

Dexter clapped a hand to his head in fear, yet no sooner had he said those words then another array of sparks shot up his sides and in yet another whirlwind of spinningness, there again stood the energetic stranger. And apparently, he knew who he needed to punch!

"OH MY DOG! I NEED TO SEE DUNCAN!"

The stranger squished their cheeks in excitement and ran to Dexter's door, yanking it open despite the lock, and waltzing into the sane world with little regard to their disruptive existence.

"DOES ANYONE KNOW HOW TO UNLOCK THE CAPS?! ALL THIS SCREAMING IS REALLY TIRING!"

The stranger, who I will now call Warren Peace until otherwise disputed, pushed passed Duncan's bedroom door without hesitation. Warren immediately assessed the room was empty, and thus began shamelessly rummaging through Duncan's things with reckless abandon, opening drawers and lifting tables with equal effort.

"Aha! I knew he took this Shade The Hotdog game ten years ago! No denial will save him now!"

As Warren was about to pocket the old looking game disk, Duncan made the unfortunate mistake of entering his room.

"Hey, Twerp! What do you think you're-"

Mr. Peace rushed forward and cut him off, grabbing him by the collar and lifting him with ease.

"Hi there, Sport! Wanna do some heavy lifting with me?!"

==============================================================================

Douglas Douglas and Debbie Douglas were enjoying some peace and quiet when the familiar sound of embarrassingly high pitched screaming and rough-housing reached their ears.

"Dude! If you want my lunch money, just take it!"

"Can't take what was never yours to begin with, DunkHead! That's just science!"

Debbie set her crochet American flag on her lap and looked up in worry.

"Looks like the boys are at it again. Should we do something?'

Douglas continued to skim the paper, unconcerned with the frankly, very concerning sound of someone being suplexed.

"You sound a bit uncomfortable! You should to do more yoga to relieve those back pains! Have you tried the upside down pretzel? I just made it up, let me show you!"

"No, please, I like that arm! AAAUUUGH!"

Douglas simply turned the page and shook his head.

"You know Dexter needs to fight his own battles. He won't always have us by his side."

He admonished to a worried looking Debbie.

As the grunts of pain continued, she merely sighed, shook her head in defeat, and went back to her stars and stripes.

=====================================================================================

"If eight great Apes ate eighty eight grapes, guess how many grapes each great Ape ate?"

Warren Peace was currently sitting on the back of a thoroughly defeated Duncan, whom he still had in an iron leg lock.

"I-I don't know! Sixteen hundred?"

Warren Peace-Out slid off his victims back into a lazy headstand.

"Not even close DunkyBoy! Pay attention or stay in detention!"

Warren stood up and yanked Duncan back by his collar, opening the the door and lifting him up like an exceptionally naughty kitten.

"Go sip some coffee to get your gears turning, you lovable melon!"

He then kicked him out into the hallway like a sack of very tossable potatoes, a small explosion arising from Duncan like a wrecked car in a Michael Bay movie.

"It's okay! I added that!"

Duncan scrambled onto his feet and backed away from the imposing maniac in a beautiful mix of fear and confusion. Warren Pieces grinned sinisterly and loomed over Duncan in an exceptionally threatening manner for a moment before suddenly jerking back placing his hands on his hips impatiently.

"ARE WE DONE?"

Debbie smiled as she finished another row of stripes on her patriotic craft. Suddenly, the sound of screaming began approaching from upstairs.

Now, usually Debbie was used to this type of behavior, but not from the person who she was suspecting it might be as they advanced. Just as she'd begun to suspect, Duncan came hurtling down the stairs, arms raised in surrender. He stopped to open the door when he reached it, then resumed running in terror.

"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! THERE'S A BLUE GUY CHASING ME!"

Douglas, who had maintained constant eye contact with his newspaper during the entire scene, smiled and ruffled his paper in approval.

"See? Dexter's fine."

Debbie frowned at the door Duncan had run out of and looked to the stairs.

"Dexter? Honey are you okay?" She called up, pointedly ignoring her husbands disapproving glares ( Though he was still looking at the paper, so maybe he just read something upsetting?). When she received no response, she go up and made her way towards the stairs, but was stopped by a choked out response.

"W-WAIT! I'm-I'm fine mom! I just-I need to be alone for a while, okay?"

Douglas huffed and nodded at Dexter's response knowingly.

"See, Dear? He's fine. Probably wants some time to himself with that new chip thing anyway."

Debbie looked up to her son's room for a few more moments before sighing and shutting the front door Duncan had left open, then sitting down and getting back to her stars and stripes.

"Boys will be boys, I suppose…"

==========================================================================================================

Dexter waited for a moment before rushing to the bathroom and locking the door behind him and slumping against it for a moment.

"What's happening to me?!"

He rushed to the sink and mirror and leaned heavily on the sink as he scoured his features for any sign of the crazy stranger that has marred it not moments ago. As he poked at his skin and pulled his hair, he saw no signs of black hair or blue skin. How was any of this even happening?!

None of it made any sense! He'd watched in abject horror as he abruptly found himself watching his own body, or some warped version of it, torment his cat, break the lock on his door, and beat the snot out of his brother! And it wasn't even him! There was someone, or something, inside his head!

"Well, technically, it's us now Dexxie!"

Dexter froze as a foreign voice spoke from out of nowhere. He spun around, eyes frantically darting to every possible space, but he was alone.

"No! Not there! Take a look in the mirror, dum-dum!"

Dexter, hesitated for a moment, afraid of what he might see.

"Come on! I don't bite, I promise!"

Dexter walked over to the sink again and stared at his reflection, eyes widening as he took in his very different appearance.

"Hey there handsome~ You come here often?"

What Dexter saw continued to make no sense whatsoever. He was blue. He'd already known that, somehow, but seeing it with his own two eyes somehow made it seem even more bizarre. And his hair! It was so big and black- And was that a lighting bolt in there? That was just-

"I look like a freak…" He mumbled, hand running through his impossible hair.

"Hey! Who you call'in a freak?"

Dexter jumped as his reflection unexpectedly straightened and huffed in indignation.

"Y-You-I'm-You're-"

Warren Peacing-It-Together smiled in the face of Dexter's stuttering, nodding encouragingly.

"You know what? I could remix this!"

Taking a recorder out from some unknown location, Peace pressed a button and played back Dexter's botched attempt at a sentence with some tasteful beatboxing in the background on loop. Dexter balked at the cartoonish behavior and was so thrown that he looped back into rationality and glared in embarrassment.

"Who are you?!"

Tossing the recording device onto some unknown corner of the mirror zone, Warren Peace decided that being called Warren Peace was getting stale and smiled.

"Well isn't it obvious? I'm you, silly-billy! Just more...Freaky, I guess."

As Dexter slumped at the cheerful response, Freaky tapped his chin thoughtfully, ignoring the devisted expression on his other half's face.

"Hmm...You know, maybe Freaky isn't exactly right. I'm feeling the Freak, but it's missing something…"

Freaky-Till-Otherwise-Specified looked around the bathroom as Dexter zoned out, probably due to shock, but Freaky-Tiki was no doctor. As he looked Dexter over, his eyes locked onto Dexter's t-shirt. It was a promotional t-shirt for some model toy kit line, specifically, some special edition models called Ghost Zoids in big red letters. It was...calling to him.

"Zoids...Freaky, Zoids... _ **Holy Halitosis in Bold and Italics!"**_

Dexter snapped out of his stupor and stumbled back, shuddering as sparks of electricity shot up his sides and a shocking spin sent him into another whirlwind of madness.

**_"Freakazoid! It's perfect! HOW did I not think if this sooner?"_ **

Freakazoid posed dramatically for a moment before patting himself on the back and yanking the bathroom door open, one again totally ignoring the doors lock and ruining the handle. He waltzed into Dexter's room-

 _ **"My room! I sleep here too, Geez! Oh wait. Let me just-**_ Geez in unbolded normal text! There! Much better."

Freakazoid looked around his room for a few minutes and frowned. Mr. Chubbikins was nowhere to be found, and Freakazoid really wanted to roll the fluffy ball of lard around.

"Mr. Chubbikins! Heeeere kitty, kitty, kitty! I just wanna squish your furry, purry, widdle fAAAAaace!"

Mr. Chubbikins watched in silent fear, or the cat equivalent of human fear, from atop Dexter's bookshelf, staying as still and silent as possible in hopes they could evade the grabby-grabby hands of Freakazoid. As they watched their determined pursuer lift his bed in his search, Mr. Chubbikins eyes caught sight of some fluttering nearby.

It was the butterfly! Mr. Chubbikins was entranced, and quickly became enthralled in the centuries old game of chunky-cat and not-at-a-mouse. So occupied was Mr. Chubbikins, that he failed to detect the palpable glee emanating off of the very close by and excited Freakazoid.

"Theeeeeeeeere you are! And look at you! Pwaying wif the widdle butterfly! So cute!"

Mr. Chubbikins yaowled in protest as Freakazoid crawled on top of the bookshelf and pulled the cat into his chest like a teddy bear.

"You're so fat and cute and I just wanna squeeeeeeze you!"

Freakazoid jumped down from the bookshelf and mercilessly cuddled Mr. Chubbikins, ignoring the felines pitiful squirming in favor of wrapping them in a blanket like a swaddled baby.

"Lookit you! You're such a sweet little baby aren't you? Yes you iz! You're a good kitty burrito! The best purrito EVER!"

===========================================================================================================

Roddy MacStew had been called many things in his life, short tempered, genius, silly-skirt-wearing-troll, but the one thing everyone could agree on if pressed, was that Roddy, above all else, was a man of action!

"CRUD!"

Roddy was currently putting this proactive energy into assembling a device with the purpose of locating and sensing any Pinnacle Chip-esque disturbances in the surrounding electrical field. In layman's terms, he was building a oh-crud tracker, because he had a feeling he'd be needing it.

That was the real kicker in his opinion, just how often he ended up hitting the nail on the head when it came to foresight. He could yell and lament all he wanted but when it came down to it, no one ever listened to him until the dirt hit the fan. Then it was all "Oh MacStew! Please help us fix our mistakes! You're kilt looks amazing! We were just jealous because plaid is the new black!"

Roddy huffed in frustration as he finally screwed the back onto his location device, apprehensive to see if it would work correctly despite knowing it would. Roddy was, or had been, the most competent employee at Apex Industries after all. Everything he made worked.

'Until now, that is…' Roddy deflated a bit as he thought, unable to shake the guilt that racked his mind. Sure, he was beyond ticked off that Gutierrez was allowing the Pinnacle chip to stay in circulation despite his warnings, but he'd been at the forefront of The Pinnacle Chip's development. It was his mistake, and if anything went wrong…

*BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP!*

Roddy startles out of his thoughts as his device shot off warning alerts and audio alarms frantically. Every emergency alert he'd installed, from "Mild threat" to "START PANICKING" had been set off and were nearly fighting each other for space on his screen.

"This better be a glitch…"

Roddy reopened the back and looked over every possible alternative to the ever encroaching reality. After reassembling his device for the fourth time in ten minutes, only to be once again bombarded with alerts, Roddy knew the unlikely had come to pass. He was getting real tired of being right every, single, TIME.

Roddy wasted no time in pulling out from the Sonic parking lot he'd been hiding in (Gutierrez would be doing more than leaving mean comments in his announcements and Roddy knew it) and put the pedal to the metal to his next destination.

"Let's see what poor sap typed in that god-forsaken sequence. If anyone can undo this, it's gonna be MacStew!"

===============================================================================================

"You need to leave Mr. Chubbikins alone! He's sensitive!"

Dexter was currently wrestling with himself in the most literal sense, over whether they-he, could put Mr. Chubbikins in a tiny business suit. Where he got the suit, Dexter didn't know, and he honestly didn't care. Dexter finished unwrapping Mr. Chubbikins from his cozy blanket prison and set the shivering ball of fluff and fat on his bed, giving the cat a apologetic shrug as it shakily slunk away from him. A painfully familiar shock ran down Dexters back and in a flash, Freakazoid was back.

"But he'll look so cute! And-AND! We reeeeeeaaaaaally want to!"

Freakazoid reached forward to snatch the cat up again, but stuttered to a stop as electric currents danced up his back and-

"NO! He's been through enough! What is your problem anyway? Stop being so-"

SHA-ZAP!

"LA, TI, DO! Gimme that kitty!"

SHA-ZAP!

"CUT IT OUT!"

SHA-ZAP!

"Kitty, kitty, kitty! You so pretty!"

SHA-ZAP!

"If you don't stop doing that-"

SHA-ZAP!

"Ohhhh! Them's fighting words Dexatron!"

SHA-ZAP!

"I'm gonna Freak Ou-"

"Dexter! Your driving instructor's here to see you!"

Dexter froze, suddenly very aware of how unpresentable he was. His clothes were a mess, he looked more burnt than dads pancakes, oh, and he had a CRAZY PERSON IN HIS HEAD!

"D-DON'T COME UP!"

Dexter struggled to stand, his legs felt like jelly, and he was so nervous! What if his mom saw? Or his dad! Or Duncan, or Steff, or his driving- Wait. He didn't have a driving-

SHA-ZAP!

"BRING COOKIEEEEEEEES!"

=====================================================================================

Roddy would have liked to say he'd found the source of the massive electrical surges with his wits alone, but the flashing lights beaming out of the second story window of an otherwise unassuming suburban house told another story. It was like a lighthouse signalling stray boats to harbor, it was so distracting!

He'd run up to the door with device in hand with such urgency, he'd forgotten all about things like invitations and trespassing until it was too late.

"Oh! Hello there, is there a problem sir?"

Roddy stood with his mouth uselessly agape as he struggled to collect himself in the face of such normalcy. He'd been expecting someone much more stressed out opening the door. Preferably the victim of the Chip themself, not this put together woman. She looked like she'd stepped out of the 50s with her perfectly ironed dress and her cookie cutter smile.

"Ah, well, you see, I'm actually…"

'What should I say?! She'll never buy it! Crud! CRUD!"

SHA-ZAP!

"CUT IT OUT!"

Roddy jumped as another flash of light beamed down from the upstairs sporadically. The woman seemed nonplussed, huffing and turning to the stairs in annoyance.

"Dexter! You need to settle down with that chip of yours! You're going to blind the neighbors!"

The woman turned back to Roddy sweetly, sighing and shaking her head in exasperation.

"I'm sorry sir, my son's just excited about his new computer parts. He tends to get carried away when technology's involved. Now! What was is you were saying?"

Roddy connected the dots quickly and smiled.

"Aww, it's no problem at all! If fact, I came over to see Dexter about his driving lessons! I'm his...Driving instructor!"

Debbie looked delighted, stepping aside eagerly to allow Roddy in.

"Oh, that's just wonderful! We didn't know anything about Dexter taking driving lessons. I'm so glad he's taking the initiative for once! I'm Dexter's mother, you can call me Debbie. Dexter! Your driving instructor's here to see you!"

Roddy watched as the flashing stopped abruptly, then heard a strangled, "D-DON'T COME UP!"

Debbie frowned in disapproval and gave Roddy an apologetic smile.

"He can be a bit shy. Why don't you just stop by later and-"

SHA-ZAP!

"BRING COOKIEEEEEEEES!"

Taking his chance, Roddy side stepped Debbie and smiled.

"He seems fine to me! Why don't I just head up? This is a very private...driving course."

Debbie looked confused for a moment, then smiled and nodded as she headed to the kitchen.

"I'll go put some cookies in the oven!"

Roddy nodded non committedly as he slowly climbed up the stairs to the source of the energy spikes. He quickly noticed that the room had gone deadly quiet and steeled himself for whatever horrors lied within. As he pushed past the door, Roddy noticed that the lock had been broken, as if someone had forced it open.

Roddy looked around the room, an average teens room to be sure, but it looked like it was empty. Still, he couldn't be completely sure. For all he knew, this person could be laying in wait for him to let his guard down, hiding in the shadows for the perfect moment...

"Hello...?"

"Hello."

Roddy spun around to find the voice's origin, but he came up empty again. He got to his knees and looked under the bed, but besides a very stressed looking cat,(not to mention overweight) it was empty.

"Hello?"

"Hello!"

Roddy looked around again, then got up and went to the computer desk for clues. He placed the monitor aside and opened up the computer to confirm his suspicions.

"There ya are…"

Roddy pulled the fried Pinnacle chip out from the computer and pocketed it for further study.

"Hey! That's mine, Sticky Fingers!"

Roddy swiveled around to face the bookshelf and sitting on top, reading a book upside down, was the poor sap who activated the chip.

"You...You're blue!"

Freakazoid scowled and tossed the book aside, leaning over the bookshelf to get a better look at Roddy.

"Yeah, so what? Big talk from someone wearing a skirt in winter!"

Roddy automatically bristled and shot back.

"It's a kilt! I'm Scottish you dimwit!"

Freakazoid grinned at Roddy's response and hopped off the bookshelf.

"Uh huh, and I'm Freakazoid! Nice ta meet'cha!"

Freakazoid grabbed Roddy's hands and shook them excessively till Roddy was shaking like a bobble head on a gravel road.

"F-Frea-Freakazoid?"

"No! Not, 'F-Frea-Freakazoid'. Freak-a-Zoid! There's only one F! Now can I have my stuff back?"

Roddy yanked his hands away as Freakazoid tried to use his free hand to snatch the chip from his pocket.

"Keep yer hands off me!"

Roddy slapped Freakazoids hand away and stepped back in frustration, looking the scientific marvel over and gripping the chip in his palm possessively. Freakazoid pouted at his wounded hands, then grinned mischievously and leap forward, grabbing Roddy by his shoulders and raising him above his head.

"If you get to take my stuff, I get to take you!"

"PUT ME DOWN, YOU MANIAC!"

Roddy flailed wildly as Freakazoid began tossing him in the air, only to catch him and throw him again.

"Give me my stuff back and maybe I will!"

"I'M. TRYING. TO. HELP. YOU!"

"That's what all the Scottish, short tempered, skirt wearing thieves say!"

Freakazoid chuckled as the man's face reddened in rage and decided to up the anti.

"Look Mom! One hand!"

Freakazoid spun Roddy like a basketball on his finger, grin widening at the man's cries of protest.

"CRUUUUUUUUUUUUUUD!"

"Last chance, funny man! Hand over the goods!"

Roddy pushed down the nausea rolling his gut and gripped the chip tightly to his chest.

"Alright then!"

Freakazoid stopped spinning Roddy and tossed him into the air once more.

"NO HANDS!"

SHA-ZAP!

"AHHHHHH!"

Roddy fell back first into a bewildered Dexter Douglas.

"Ack! I-I'm so sorry sir! I-I just-"

Dexter weakly scrambled out from under a dizzy Roddy and pulled the man up from the floor, dusting the wobbly man off apologetically.

"I tried to make him stop but he wouldn't listen! I can't c-control it!"

Roddy shook his head and looked to his hand, but the chip was missing!

"Where-? Lad! Where's the chip?"

Dexter paused at the man's apparent disregard for his earlier assault and after a moment of processing the question, shrugged.

"Well, help me look then!"

Dexter nodded and started scouring the floor as Roddy got to his hands and knees looked under his desk. Finally, Dexter's eyes caught sight of something shiny.

"I think I found it! But…"

Roddy shot to his feet and ran over to Dexter eagerly.

"Where lad? Where is it?"

Dexter pointed to the Pinnacle chip, or what remained of it. The chip had apparently landed under one of them when Roddy had fallen, and was now irreparably shattered.

"Oh no…"

Roddy gently scooped up the scraps of the now crushed chip solemnly, slipping them into his pocket and sighing.

"Um...I don't wanna be rude, cause I kinda just threw you a second ago, but who are you?"

Roddy took a calming breath and turned to face the meek looking teen. He looked nothing like he had before, and it was honestly jarring.

"Roddy MacStew, but you can call me Roddy, lad. I, am the creator of the Pinnacle chip. I'm also the reason things have been so wacky for you lately, and for that, I'm sorry."

Dexter's eyes widened in understanding and he took a cautious step back.

"Wait so, y-you're the reason I have some weirdo in my head?! How? What's happening to me?"

Roddy placed a steadying hand on Dexter's shoulder and led him to his bed so they could sit side by side.

"You accidentally activated a flaw in the chips programming, lad. By typing in a certain sequence and then pressing delete, the flaw caused a concentrated surge of raw power and information to be blown directly into yer head."

Dexter clapped a hand to his head and groaned.

"That's seriously what's happening? How is that even possible…?"

"The how isn't important right now. For now, we need to focus on stabilizing the electric current that's currently de-stabilizing your conscience! That blue fella's too much trouble to reason with, and time is of the essence. Do ya think you can try to keep him under control until I can think of a solution?"

Dexter nodded, but before he could respond, an electric shock ran up his spine and-

SHA-ZAP!

"There is no try, only do! And speaking of dodo, I think this plan stinks!"

SHA-ZAP!

"Well of course you do! You're the problem!"

SHA-ZAP!

"Moi? A problem? Take a look at yourself in the mirror, bucko! I'm the solution!"

SHA-ZAP!

"Oh yeah?! Well-"

*ZAAAAP!*

Roddy pressed a strange device into Dexter's neck, sending red sparks down his shoulders.

"OW! Hey, what was that for?!"

"Oh, quiet down, will ye? I simply re-assembled my honing device to send an electrical shock into your system that I guesstimate was of the opposite wave length of the electric shocks transforming you into Freakazoid."

Dexter sat dumbfounded as Roddy casually explained his genius as if discussing the sunday paper. He looked down at his hands, then closed his eyes and concentrated on the space in his head where only moments before he'd felt a distinct presence.

It was gone.

"Is...Is he gone? Did you really stop it?"

Roddy shrugged, pocketing his device for later use, just in case.

"Gone for now at least. I can't give you any guarantee it'll last longer than a few hours though-"

Dexter lunged forward and hugged Roddy tightly, squeezing a little harder than necessary in his relief before pulling away quickly.

"I'm sorry but-Thank you! Thank you so much! You have no idea how stressful this has been for me. So, are you gonna find some way to make it permanent?"

Roddy smiled at the now much more relaxed teen and nodded. He kept to himself the little detail that without the pinnacle chips data, he'd have a much harder time figuring out how exactly the Pinnacle chip had affected him. Considering how happy the boy looked though, maybe he should save that for later. Much later.

"For now, we need to find out how to shut down that Freakazoid permanently. To do that, we'll be needing some special equipment! I suggest we head over to-"

**"How DARE you! You need to leave my house this INSTANT! Hey-!"**

Roddy and Dexter both froze as the sounds of some sort of altercation reached their ears. There was also the distinct sound of strange voices coming from below, and they are getting closer. Roddy had some idea of who the intruders were and stepped protectively in front of Dexter, pushing the teen back with an arm.

"Get behind me, lad!"

"Hey, what's-"

Armored men burst through Dexter's thoroughly abused door, firearms in hand and gear at the ready for any altercation.

"Roddy MacStew! You're coming with us! The kid too!"

Roddy quickly assess the pros and cons of trying to run for it, but with Dexter in tow, it would be impossible. Suddenly, Roddy was regretting zapping away that Freakazoid character. He would have been pretty useful right about now.

"Alright, alright! We'll cooperate with ye! Just leave the kid, he doesn't know anything."

One of the men stepped forward and cuffed MacStew, then shoved him away from Dexter roughly.

"No can do, MacStew. Mr. Gutierrez said you'd be after someone who'd activated the flaw, and this kids looks to be it. Com'ere kid."

Dexter looked like a deer caught in the headlights for a moment before he meekly took a step forward. The man looked him over incredulously, then took out another pair of cuffs and quickly snapped them on Dexter's wrist.

"Now let's get a move on! I'm pretty sure one of the residents called the police, and we're not supposed to deal with law enforcement. Gutierrez's orders."

The grunts grabbed Dexter and Roddy by the arms and dragged them out of the house quickly. As they pushed them into their shiny black van, Debbie ran after them with a rolling pin.

**"That's my SON! You leave him alone!"**

One guard vainly tried to block her brutal pin strikes, arms up in surrender as she beat him back until Douglas finally ran out after her and held her back.

"Debbie! There's probably a perfectly reasonable explanation for all this! Calm down!"

**"He. Has. MY SON!"**

The grunts made a hasty retreat into their getaway car and drove off before the madwoman was let loose once more. One of the guards who'd survived Debbie's rolling pin peeled off their helmet and looked over to Dexter in horror.

"Jeez, kid! That's your mom?"

Dexter shrugged meekly, a small smile of pride pulling at his lips. His mom could be pretty scary when she wanted to be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'd like to think that Debbie can be a tiger mom when the situation calls for it. What does Gutierrez want with Dexter and Roddy? What could possibly happen next?! Well, if you've watched Freakaziod, you probably know. Still, I hope I can entertain you with my modern spin on it all! Every time I get a review, I write one more chapter! Feedback is always appreciated! Also, check out Xamag-Main on tumblr! Their art and ideas are amazing!


	3. Chapter 3! Freakazoid's Day Out!

Dexter gave up. Today was a total bust and there was no two ways about it. He'd thought, "Hey! Maybe if I just stay positive, and look on the bright side of things, everything will turn out okay!" and look where that got him! He'd tried to stay positive, he'd tried to find joy in the little things, and turns out? The little things blast you with insurmountable knowledge and put crazy people in your head! Roddy seemed to notice Dexter's foul mood and nudged him.

"Chin up, lad! I promise I'll get you out of this. Gutierrez only needs me, so as long as we don't mention your little blue problem, he'll probably let you go."

Dexter gave a small nod, but otherwise he stayed slumped and miserable in his chair. He couldn't help it! He was tied to a chair in some sinister corporate building, things were grim. He braved looking up at one of the guards stationed around the office, hoping to instill some sympathy. When he made eye contact, the guard shrugged apologetically and looked away. So much for that.

_'I could get out of these ropes, easy.'_

Oh! And the crazy guy was back. So, there was that. He hadn't tried to resurface yet, but with Dexter's luck, it was only a matter of time.

_'Well if that's how you feel. Don't bother coming to me later, jerk.'_

Dexter huffed. Good riddance! He only hoped the maniac's attention span would allow him to keep that promise!

 _'It's Freakazoid!_ '

"Yeah? And I'm the Arch Duke of Wales!"

"Is that so? And I thought you were Dexter Douglas! My mistake."

Dexter froze as a dignified voice answered him sarcastically, an equally dignified looking man stepping into the office and sitting on the desk in front of him.

"I, am Armando Gutierrez, owner of Apex Industries, the creators of that Pinnacle chip you purchased, Dexter."

Dexter nodded, glancing over at Roddy, who seemed to be turning beet red at the sight of Gutierrez. Gutierrez simply ignored Roddy's scowl and smiled at Dexter pleasantly.

"I just want to apologize for any inconvenience my men may have caused you, my boy. It was a matter of great importance that you and MacStew here were brought to me at once, you see."

Dexter relaxed a little at Gutierrez's explanation, but before he could respond, Roddy cut him off angrily.

"So this was your plan, then? Using the public as test subjects and following me till you got your sample? Are ya happy now, you Bitter Sot?!"

Gutierrez frowned at Roddy's accusations, drawing back from him in an offhand manner.

"Me? Do such a thing? Why I never! MacStew, I'm only trying to help the boy! It was your flaw that caused this to happen after all. I'm only taking responsibility for my employees mistakes!"

Dexter frowned at Gutierrez's words and looked to Roddy, obvious questions burning in his eyes. Roddy attempted to respond, but to no avail. He deflated and sighed, gaze hardening.

"I may have been the one to create it Gutierrez, but it was you who refused to recall them! You intend to keep the public unaware of all this! If you'd done what I asked, the whole world would know of the dangers of the chip, and they'd all be in the trash by now!"

Gutierrez shook his head sadly and turned to Dexter.

"It's a sad thing to see, isn't it? A man in denial of his crimes. I tried to help him, you know? But he refused to listen and tried to take matters into his own hands. And look at all the good that's done! Dexter, let me take those off."

Gutierrez snapped his fingers and one of the guards came forward and untied him from the chair, Dexter was so confused. On one hand, Roddy had told him the chip flaw had been his fault, but on the other hand, Gutierrez was being so nice, and Roddy wasn't exactly…

"Listen, lad. You can blame me all you want for what's happened to you, I deserve it! But don't trust Gutierrez. He's a snake of a man! He only wants you for your-"

Gutierrez made a small motion with his head and a guard elbowed Roddy in the gut.

"He's just upset, that's all. Now my boy, lets walk, shall we?"

Dexter nodded nervously, looking back at Roddy as Gutierrez eagerly pulled him out of the office and into the buildings hallway. Dexter gasped at the size of it, realizing when he was brought here, he'd had a bag over his head so he hadn't been able to identify where he was.

"Um, sir…?"

Gutierrez continued to lead him down the hallway, smiling as he inclined his head politely.

"Yes? Don't be afraid to speak up, my boy."

"It's just...I didn't realize earlier, but, are we in The Apex Industries Tower?"

Gutierrez grinned proudly, waving his hand dramatically to his surroundings.

"One in the same! It's my crowning achievement, the center of my accomplishments, immortalized in reinforced steel and earthquake resistant concrete! Why do you ask?"

Dexter gave a small smile and bushed.

"Well, when I was doing a report on advancements in modern architecture, I kinda centered the whole report on this building. I mean, you literally went out of your way to implement every bit of new advancements in architecture into this one building! Solar powered windows, recyclable and renewable plastics! It's…"

Dexter realized he's begun rambling and blushed again. He'd just been kidnapped by this dude, and now he was going on about his stupid school report. Dexter, what is wrong with you?! He flinched as Gutierrez abruptly started laughing and gave Dexter an encouraging squeeze on the shoulder.

"I like you, Dexter Douglas! Yes, when I built this tower, I wanted to make a statement. I wanted the world to know, Apex Industries was a place of innovation, a place where the future became the now! I'm happy you see that as well."

They finally reached their destination when they came up to a someone intimidating steel door.

"Don't be shy, Dexter. This is simply my private office. Can't have anyone just kicking open the door, now can I?"

Dexter gulped, remembering he'd been kidnapped just an hour ago, and he nervously followed Gutierrez into the room. It was an office, like Gutierrez had said, but it looked much more high tech than the one he'd been in before. What was more, instead of a window, there was big black screen behind the desk.

Gutierrez closed the door behind them and went to sit at his desk calmly as Dexter looked around the room in awe.

"Please sit, my boy. We have some things we need to discuss."

Dexter snapped to attention, nodding and sitting in the wooden chair conveniently in front of Gutierrez's desk.

"Now, Dexter. I have reason to believe you activated the flaw my employee, Roddy MacStew created when he made the Pinnacle chip. Can you tell me exactly what happened?"

Dexter felt the butterflies start in his stomach and squirmed uncomfortably. What was he supposed to say? He could barely make sense of it himself, how was he supposed to competently explain what he'd experienced to Armando Gutierrez without looking like a crazy loon? And besides, hadn't Roddy said not to tell Gutierrez anything about Freakazoid? What if he got in trouble?

"Dexter? Do not be afraid, my boy. You aren't in trouble, you're a victim after all. I just want to help you with whatever the chip did to you."

_'I don't trust this weenie.'_

Dexter blinked in surprise. He'd almost forgotten that Freakazoid was still in his head.

_'Why would he kidnap us if he was trying to help us? That just freaked us out, we could've gotten hurt! Pun totally intended, by the way.'_

Dexter frowned and shook his head a bit to clear his thoughts like an Etch-A-Sketch. He didn't need this right now!

_'Well, I think you should tell this guy to beat it! He messed with our family, and he's mean to Roddy!'_

Dexter scowled at the peanut gallery-esque input. Freakazoid was one to talk. He'd tormented Duncan seconds after appearing! And he'd been mean to Roddy too!

_'But that's only because we'd WANTED to! We didn't know Roddy wasn't a robber! The point is, if this guy is so good, why'd he lock us in here? Ask if we can just leave! If he's a good guy, he'll let us go!'_

Dexter sat up straighter at that. He hated to admit it, but Freakazoid was right. If Gutierrez was as benevolent as he was trying to appear, then he'd have to let them-him, go if he asked. Otherwise…

"Um, Mr. Gutierrez? I don't really...want to be here. I really appreciate you trying to help and all, but Roddy was actually doing just fine at that before! I just wanna go home."

Gutierrez stared in confusion for a moment, then smiled and began to laugh.

"HahaHAHAHAHA! Oh, of course, Dexter! If you desire it, I can take you home right now!"

Dexter felt his entire body relax, and he slumped in his chair, relieved their-his, hunch had been right.

"Before you leave however, would you care to say goodbye?"

Gutierrez took out a remote and Dexter frowned in confusion.

"Goodbye? To who?"

"Why! Your brother, of course!"

Dexter's jaw dropped as Gutierrez pressed a button on his remote and sure enough, Duncan Douglas appeared on the black screen behind Gutierrez.

"HEY! What's the meaning of all this? LET ME GO!"

Duncan struggled in a steel chair that eerily resembled an electrocution chair. Dexter stood automatically, taking a few futile steps towards his brother on the screen.

"But-! How? Why? You said I could go!"

Gutierrez chuckled and reclined in his chair smugly.

"In order? My men found your brother running through the streets screaming about blue men and apes like a lunatic and decided to pick him up. He was what clued my men in on the strange happenings in your home, and I decided to invite him over. He told me quite a story, believe me! I knew, considering what an entertaining guest he's been, that you'd just love to meet him."

Gutierrez stood and stalked over to Dexter confidently, looming over him till he sat down again.

"And about my promise? I intend to keep it! You can leave anytime you want Dexter, as long as you're willing to leave your brother behind."

Dexter glared and hoped he looked threatening.

"I'll call the police. They'll search the building and find him."

Gutierrez scoffed, then shrugged.

"Maybe so. And maybe I'll accidentally end up pressing these little buttons here before they can find him."

To demonstrate, Gutierrez raised his remote and pressed a button. To Deters horror, sparks ignited around the chair Duncan was strapped to and his brother screamed. It didn't look like an electric chair, it was one!

"STOPSTOP! Don't-Don't hurt him! I'll stay, okay? I promise I'll stay."

Gutierrez lifted his finger and Duncan groaned in relief as the sparks stopped.

"What a pleasant surprise! During your stay, why don't we talk, eh Dexter?"

Dexter slumped in his chair and nodded mutely. This was bad. Duncan was a hostage! And Gutierrez was definitely a bad guy, that wasn't a question anymore, that's for sure. Was Roddy gonna be okay? If Gutierrez was willing to do all this, then what was he doing to Roddy?

"So, Dexter. Tell me, how exactly did the chip affect you? "

Dexter took a shaky breath and kept his eyes down as he spoke. He knew if he looked up, he'd see his brother on that big screen, and he'd couldn't handle that right now.

"When I input the code, I blacked out for a bit, and when I woke up-"

"The code, what is it?"

Dexter froze, mind racing for an answer and coming up blank. He couldn't remember, his cat had stepped on the keyboard for pete's sake! He just remembered deleting it and then-

"I-I can't remember. My cat-"

Gutierrez raised the remote and frowned and dexter shot up in response.

"I SWEAR! MY CAT WAS ON THE KEYBOARD! Th-That's why I deleted it!"

Gutierrez rolled his eyes and set the remote on his lap again.

"How disappointing. Well, luckily for your brother, my men are asking Roddy the same question. Let's hope he has a better memory than you, eh?"

Gutierrez lifted a walkie talkie to his head and pressed a button.

"Have you gotten the code? Over."

After a beat of silence, there was a staticy response.

"No yet, sir. He's a stubborn old man. Over."

Dexter grimaced as the muffled sounds of someone getting punched reached his ears. Gutierrez sighed and smiled at Dexter.

"Excuse me for a moment, Dexter. I think Roddy and I need to have a chat."

Gutierrez rose from the desk with remote in hand and left the room, locking the door behind him. Dexter waited for an entire minute before lurching forward and heaving. It wasn't pretty. Thankfully, Dexter hadn't eaten much, so there wasn't much coming back up. He desperately tried to keep from hyperventilating and tried to focus on the facts instead.

He was locked in a room with no way out. His brother was a hostage. Roddy was probably being waterboarded like a prisoner in Guantanamo Bay right now. He had to get out. He had to get out!

_'Waterboarding in Guantanamo Bay sounds like a lot of fun if you don't know what either of those things are.'_

Dexter gasped, simultaneously relieved and scared that he wasn't alone, not even in his own head.

"Shut up! I need to think of a way out of here! If I don't, Duncan might-"

_'Oh, what a shame! If only you could break through a steel door! Too bad.'_

Speaking of…

"You have to come out! Duncan's in trouble! And Roddy!"

_'Ah, ah, ah! I seem to recall someone saying 'good riddance' to me! But now that things are a little too hot to handle, suddenly we're best friends!'_

"That's not important right now! People's lives are in danger!"

_'Oh yeah? And what about mine? Weren't you and Roddy planning on deleting me? Aren't I people?'_

Dexter paused at that. He was kinda right, even if it was a wildly different situation. But what was he supposed to do? Two people couldn't live in one head!

_'Well, if that's what you think, then I'm not helping!'_

Dexter groaned and rubbed his face in frustration. When he peeked through his fingers, he saw Duncan, all alone, am in very real danger. It was his fault Duncan was here. So what if he hadn't been himself. He'd still watched what Freakazoid had done, and a small part of him had enjoyed it! In the end, He'd only done what he'd secretly wanted to do all along.

_'See! That's what I'm talking about Dex! I'm not just some stranger, I'm you!'_

Dexter nodded and sighed, a plan starting to form in his mind. He just hoped it wouldn't horribly backfire like everything else in his life.

"Okay, so I have an idea."

_'Hm?'_

"What if we...shared?"

_'Ohhhhhhh! I can share! I love sharing! Sharing is Caring, that's my motto!'_

"Alright, alright! I get it! Now, there's gonna be some rules too, okay?"

_'Rules? How many rules we talkin exactly?'_

"Like, three."

_'Hmmmm…'_

Dexter looked up at his brother impatiently.

"Tick Tock!"

_"Okay, okay! Don't rush me, Geez-Louise!"_

"Rule number one, no hurting people unless it's in self defense. You're too strong, you could seriously hurt someone."

_'But there's so many people we wanna hurt!'_

"This is non-negotiable. You promise or the deal's off!"

_'Fine! I have other ways of destroying someone's will to live anyway.'_

"Good! I guess...Now two is, you can't let anyone know we're one in the same. My family wouldn't take it well, and neither would the rest of civilized society. Besides, I'd like not to be associated with you, no offense."

_'Full offense taken, but it's a deal! You'll learn to love me Dexatron, just you wait!'_

"Yeah, okay. Rule number three, we don't switch unless I give you the say so! I can promise you at least three turns a week, that's it!"

_'Aw, what?! Only three? That's lame, why do you get to say so?'_

"Because I was here first. I still have a life to live, you're lucky I didn't give once a week!"

_'Ugggghhhhhhhhhh! FINE! Fine! So what's the password?'_

"The password?"

_'Well, "No Offense", but I don't trust you AT ALL, so I'm programming a password that'll automatically switch us back and forth. You get one, and I get one! Isn't that NEAT?'_

"So if I say it, we'll just switch?"

_'And if I say mine, we switch back! Simple, Dimple! You know? I'm not one to brag about how great I am, so I'll just pause and let us both think it.'_

Dexter pause alright, but not to think about Freakazoid's many outstanding qualities. If he did this, there was a good chance he might just be stuck, and Freakazoid would just keep him trapped in his own mind. Alternatively, Freakazoid was also running the same risk. This plan was relying on a lot of trust that both had actively proclaimed that didn't have. Was this really his best option?

"AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHGH!"

Dexter jumped and stood as Duncan was suddenly hit with a painful blast of electricity. Why? He wasn't-

_**'Dexter! What's the password?!'** _

Dexter was shocked to hear Freakazoid sounded genuinely distressed, and he reminded himself that for all his insanity, Freakazoid was still him. He wanted to save Duncan too.

"The password-The password is-"

His mind was blank, he couldn't think of anything! Not when his brother was being tortured right in front of him! How was he supposed to-

_'Well, you need to think of something! Just stop Freaking Out and-'_

Something clicked and Dexter just knew.

"Freak Out! The password is Freak Out!"

'...Processing…'

SHA-ZAP!

**"IIIIIIIII LIKE IT!"**

Freakazoid stretched in relief, then put on a more serious face as his attention fell on the screen. Thankfully, Duncan was no longer being zapped, but still! He needed to get some recompense for all this treachery!

_'Only in self defense!'_

"But-"

_'You **promised.'**_

"Ugh, fine. Let's go find Duggy!"

_'Wait! The only reason Duncan's in danger in the first place is because of Gutierrez's remote! We need to get that remote!'_

"Oh! Hey, that's a swell idea! Glad _I_ thought of it!"

_'Just, **go.'**_

"Go where?"

_'I just said! To Gutierrez!'_

"But this place is huge! He could be anywhere!"

_'Are you serious? He said he was going to see Roddy. We were just there!'_

"Oh yeah! I guess I forgot. Alrighty then! Gutierrez HO!"

Freakazoid ran straight at the door and kicked it open, leaving a sizable dent in the steel frame. As Dexter guided him, Freakazoid ran through the halls and finally, after seven wrong turns, found the office with Roddy and Gutierrez.

Freakazoid ignored Dexter's suggested, 'Sneak Attack' and kicked open the door enthusiastically.

"KNOCK KNOCK, IT'S KNUCKLES TO THE FACE!"

His smile fell quickly as four armed men turned in unison to reveal a very sorry looking Roddy and no Gutierrez. What was worse, one man had a gun to Roddy's head. He'd almost been too late!

" _LEEEEEETS WRASTLE!"_

Freakazoid jumped forward into a crouching position and leg sweeped all four men onto the floor. He then proceeded to dish out some very family friendly violence! Brought to you by-

"That's enough, lad! If you throw them out the window, they won't survive it!"

Freakazoid pouted and lowered the beaten stack of grunts hesitantly.

"It's not that far!"

"We're on the 7th story Freakazoid."

_'You promised only in self defense!'_

Freakazoid scowled as he was lectured from two fronts and threw the men into Gutierrez's desk.

"It was self defense! I even defended Roddy too! So technically, it still counts!"

_'From now on, if the bad guys aren't a threat anymore, you STOP. Okay?'_

Freakazoid grumbled some non committal response and tried to ignore Dexter as he mom'd him. He was 16 years old and he was pretty sure he could throw a car, he didn't need to be lectured every five minutes! Freakazoid went to Roddy and tore away the ropes binding him with ease.

"Thank you. What happened to ya, lad?"

"Well, Gutierrez kinda kidnapped my brother Duncan and started zapping him, so me and Dexter made nice and now I'm trying to find Gutierrez so I can crush that remote of his and maybe also his face? Just an idea."

Roddy frowned, then jumped up in realization.

"Zapped? That was your brother?! Gutierrez used him to get me to give him the code, lad! He's on his way to do it right now!"

"What?! Where is he now?"

"I can't say for sure. We'll have to split up Freakazoid. Let's go!"

Freakazoid and Roddy ran into the hallway.

"You go left, I'll go right!"

Roddy ran down the right hallway and Freakazoid watched him go, slightly worried about the man's health. He'd looked pretty beaten down when he'd arrived. Would he be okay by himself?

_'He's a tough cookie, he'll be fine! Let's go!'_

"Yeah!...Go where?"

_'He just SAID! We're going left!'_

"Oops! Just, forgot again. I guess. Sorry!"

Freakazoid ran down the fancy hallway and pushed open every door he came across.

"Oh, Mr. Gutierrez! Where are yooooouuuuu?! Olly Olly Oxen Free! Come out, come out, wherever you are! I'll read you one of Dexter's poems!"

_'You know about those!?'_

"Oh boy, you bet I do! Every SINGLE stanza! I think they're pretty, though, I'm more of a haiku guy myself."

_'JUST-Concentrate. **Please?'**_

"I'll do my best! Mr. Gutierrez whe-OH MY, GOLLY GEE WIZ!"

Freakazoid ran toward a door and stopped in front of it urgently.

_'What? Did you see him?'_

"See who? No, I just saw THIS!"

Freakazoid pointed to the plaque on the office door in glee. On the plaque was the name, Amanda Huggenkiss.

_'...'_

"Eh? EHH?"

_'Are you serious?'_

"Never! Come on! This is amazing! Do you think their parents _knew?_ "

_'Freakazoid, I swear-'_

"Not while we're on camera you won't! There are kids watching! For shame!"

_'Just look for Gutierrez.'_

"Oh yeah!"

Freakazoid ran off, then stopped mid step and went back to the door and pulled the plaque off, slipping it discreetly into his back pocket.

"I'll just be taking this..."

_"Uggghhhhhhhhhhhh…'_

======================================================================================

Roddy hadn't thought this through, like, at all. He'd been so caught up in stop-Gutierrez mode that he hadn't considered Gutierrez's fully staffed security detail. He was considering it now though, seeing as he'd had to barricade himself in some random office with nothing but a busted knee to show for it.

"Crud! And while I dilly-dally here, Gutierrez is probably-"

SLAM!

"Aw, put a sock in it!"

"Come out now, and we'll use minimal force!"

"Oh, sure! And I'm a monkey's uncle!"

He needed to escape, and fast. Cheap office chairs and a door lock would only hold them off for so long. Roddy brainstormed for a solution, starting up a computer in hopes of maybe being able to hack the security system.

'But security system or not, the men outside aren't going anywhere. I'm stuck.'

"You can't stay in there forever MacStew! You'll have to leave eventually!"

That gave Roddy an idea. Sure, he couldn't leave like he was now, but maybe…

"This better work!"

Roddy hesitated for only a moment, the sound of the door frame cracking giving him the final push he needed. He quickly typed in the input code to active the flaw in the Pinnacle chip, which Gutierrez would have undeniably had installed in all his company owned computers, the monster.

Just as Roddy typed in the last quotation mark, the door spilt, and with a violent kick the door was broken in.

"Got you now, MacStew! Hands up!"

Roddy simply grinned, pressed the delete, and in a blinding flash, disappeared.

"SO LONG, BOYS! HAHAHAHAHA!"

===========================================================================================

Gutierrez had many strengths. His confidence, his dominating presence, his cunning, his wit, his looks, his business sense. When it came to technology sadly, none of these charming qualities could assist him.

"Why must it be such a complicated code? Why could it not be, kittens? Or salad? Oof, I'm such a bad typist!"

He scowled ah he accidentally typed in the wrong character again and backspaced. At least that part would be easy. Delete was his best friend at this point.

Meanwhile, somewhere close by, but not close enough, a blue buffoon made his way down Apex Towers halls.

"Mr. Gutierrez!? Yoohoo! HEY, GUTIERREZ!"

Freakazoid stopped after a moment, he held his breath and finally heard the familiar sound of computer keys reaching his ears. Freakazoid smiled in triumph, and raced in the direction of the clicking keys.

"Finally."

Gutierrez looked back and forth between the note Roddy had wrote out and his screen, double checking for any errors. He smiled as he recognized he'd finally completed the sequence.

"Soon, Ithe world will be mine for the pickings…"

Gutierrez went to press delete, but before he could reach it, he found himself being pulled back by his seat. They leaned him back till he was face to face with the perpetrator.

"YOU!"

"ME!"

Freakazoid spun the chair to face him and socked Gutierrez right in the eye. He smiled as even Dexter seemed satisfied with his treatment of Gutierrez. But that's just what happens when you messed with their stuff. Freakazoid reached past Gutierrez with his free hand and grabbed Gutierrez's remote, crushing it quickly and throwing it angrily to the ground.

"Y-You wound me, Dexter-"

"I'm Freakazoid. Dexter's hanging back for a bit, leave a message after I give you a black eye or two!"

"Wait!

Freakazoid halted mid punch and scowled.

"Whaaaaaaat?"

Gutierrez heaved a sigh of relief and sat up. He held his injured eye protectively behind his hand, using his other hand to straighten his tie.

"Freakazoid, was it? Lets talk."

"I thought that was what we were doing? I like hitting while I talk, can I do that?"

"I...would prefer not?"

"Pffft! Fine! You have, I dunno, until I get bored!"

Gutierrez nodded seriously, glancing back at his computer and then back at Freakazoid thoughtfully.

"So...This is what becomes of those who activate the Pinnacle chip? A little more...blue than I expected."

Freakazoid raised his fist again and Gutierrez laughed nervously and raised his hands in surrender.

"Not that there's anything wrong with that! I quite like it!"

"Really? So you're not thinking I look like a smurf or anything?"

Gutierrez shook his head eagerly, wincing slightly as he jostled his purpling eye.

"Not at all. I want what you have Freakazoid, blue skin and all!"

Freakazoid and Dexter both balked at that, Freakazoid going so far as to jaw drop.

"Buh-But WHY?"

Gutierrez chuckled knowingly.

"Isn't it obvious? Look at you! Look at what you can do! You're a marvel! How many of my guards have you taken down alone?"

Freakazoid vaguely recalled tossing aside a couple noisey guards to Dexter's dismay, but nobody Freakazoid would actually consider a challenge.

"I don't know? More than four."

"Exactly! With your abilities, who knows what you can do! I simply want what you have, Freakazoid. Power, knowledge, and the entirety of the Internet!"

Freakazoid was unimpressed with the flattery and the thinly veiled sinister intentions. He wasn't a genius, but he wasn't an idiot either! Gutierrez had been glancing back at his computer for the millionth time in the last few minutes. The was probably the worst, stalling-for-time speech he'd ever heard. Freakazoid sighed and pushed Gutierrez's chair back till he was almost horizontal with the floor.

"Listen, Mr. Gutierrez. I'm gonna be honest with you here and tell you exactly why you shouldn't activate the chip's flaw for yourself. This is coming from someone with experience, so listen up! I'm only being this nice cause you liked Dexter's school report."

Freakazoid pulled back the free hand not leaning Gutierrez back and started counting fingers off.

"First! Well, I'll be honest, super strength is pretty great. But just imagine all the trouble you get into when you push something too hard or take arm wrestling too far! Second, having all this knowledge is pretty useless! I mean, I know all this stuff, yeah, but it's just kinda sitting there. Where in the world am I gonna find the entire history of paper clips useful? And Third! Having the entirety of the Internet stuffed inside you brain is GREAT!"

At this point, Freakazoid leaned in real close, his near permanent grin stretching painfully wide as he stared directly into Gutierrez's soul.

"IF, you're okay with the feeling of your brain struggling to not split. So if you're fine with a constant string of continuously cataloging information, from the tiniest like on Facebook, to the NEXT BIG THING with a billion views on YouTube, being sent directly into your brain, then GET ON BOARD!"

Freakazoid yanked Gutierrez back upright and spun him to face his computer eagerly, ignoring Dexter's cries of protest.

"Go on, buddy! Let's make this a comedy duo! After all, crazy loves company!"

Gutierrez hesitated and looked back at Freakazoid with his wide, unhinged smile, and bloodshot, dilated eyes. This wasn't the face of a man you wanted to follow in the footsteps of.

"What's the hold up? Don't tell me you don't think you can handle it! Not that I blame you. After all, Dexter here's a nerd computer ace, and look how we turned out! I don't even know what I am!"

Before Gutierrez could respond, Freakazoid reached forward and punched through the monitor, yanking his fist out quickly, he grabbed the keyboard and snapped it over his knee.

"What-"

Freakazoid glared darkly at Gutierrez at he crushed the remains of the keyboard in his hands, effectively cutting the man off.

"If you're gonna hesitate, then you're not ready. _Let this go_ Gutierrez, you _don't_ want this."

Freakazoid tossed the useless plastic aside and grabbed Gutierrez by his collar. Gutierrez froze in fear as Freakazoid pulled his hand back-

"I'll just be taking this!"

Gutierrez gasped as Freakazoid opened his hand to reveal the sequence note that Roddy had written.

"WAIT!"

"NOPE!"

Freakazoid stuffed the paper into his mouth and chewed it ruthlessly before swallowing it.

"Deeeeee-licious! Could'a used more salt though…"

Gutierrez slumped back into his chair and groaned in anger.

"You _task_ me, Freakazoid."

"Awwww! You're too kind!"

Freakazoid made his way to the door, then paused and turned back.

"Where'd you put Duncan, anyway?"

Gutierrez glared at Freakazoids audacity, then sighed and sat up.

"Your brother is in room 420 two floors down."

"HAH! Are you serious? That's amazing! Well, thanks Mr. Gutierrez!"

Freakaziod smiled and spun around, but was halted as Gutierrez stood and placed his free hand not covering his eye on his shoulder,

"This is not over, Freakazoid. Mark my words, we will meet again, and when we do-"

"Ooooookay. That's nice and all, but I really need to go get my brother. How about you just email me later? Cool? Cool!"

And with that, Freakazoid was off! Gutierrez watched in shock as Freakazoid ran off without a care in the world, completely disregarding his words.

"He will rue the day he reads my email! I will mercilessly fill his inbox with hate mail! Just you wait, Freakazoid! You will lament for years to come, the day you foolishly dared to insult, Armando Gutierrez!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In the episode, The Chip, I always wondered why Freakazoid didn't come out until Dexter said Freak Out. It didn't see right to me story wise, so I came up with a solution that made me happy. I think Dexter and Freak were switching sporadically in the beginning because they were fighting, and the words Freak Out, are kinda their compromise. Go check out Xamag-Main on tumbler! They're the inspiration for this story and all my ideas! They're also just an amazing artist, so really, I'm doing you a favor! They're also on Youtube under the name Daria Yeliseyeva, where you can see some awesome storyboards of the episode The Chip!


	4. Chapter 4! Freakazoid Makes a Friend!

_'So you remember you need to go two floors down, room 420?'_

"Well, of course I do! How could I forget?"

_'You seem to forget everything else!"_

"That's only because-Wait! What happened to Roddy? Where is he?"

Freakazoid skidded to a halt and looked around worriedly. Roddy was all alone in this doom dungeon of a capitalist tower!

"But what if he's hurt? Or, more hurt, I guess. He was almost as blue as me when we found him Dexter!"

_'...You're right. Two turns left, then go right, he went that way."_

"Thanks Siri!"

Freakazoid hurried down the halls and pushed open doors as he went. As he quickly turned a corner, Freakazoid accidentally bumped into a group of security guards.

"Whoops! Sorry fellas, I'm in a hurry. Have any of you seen an angry Scottish man in a skirt recently?"

The guards all looked to each other in collective confusion, then turned back to Freakazoid and held up their guns.

"I'll take that as a _strong_ maybe!"

Freakazoid ignored Dexter's nagging at his 'Immature' behavior and charged forward, knocking the guns out of the guards hands and tossing them into the walls. After dusting himself off and looking around, Freakazoid noticed one of the doors in the hallway was totally wrecked.

"Bingo! I think I know where Roddy is!"

_'With all those security guards, that might not be a good thing…'_

Freakazoid frowned at that and pushed the door debris aside as he stepped into the office cautiously.

"Roddy? Are you okay?"

_'This room looks empty. Maybe he isn't-'_

"No! I can feel him Dexter! He's here!"

Freakazoid walked over to one of the computers and cocked his head curiously. He could feel Roddy? Wasn't that kinda weird? But there was no denying it, there was definitely a presence. Freakazoid turned on the computer and experimentally typed in a quick **"Hello! :)"** . After a beat of silence, the computer beeped and responded.

**"Hello, lad! Good to see you safe and sound. I suppose you stopped Gutierrez then?"**

Dexter and Freakazoid both gasped, Dexter in shock and Freakazoid in glee. Freakazoid quickly typed back.

**"Sure did! I got rid of that code too! Where are you Roddy? I was worried. :( "**

**"I'm sorry, lad. I used the chip flaw to escape into the Internet. So technically, I'm everywhere right now. I've been trying to get out, but I haven't found out how just yet."**

Freakazoid felt his heart sink. He didn't know exactly why, but he felt guilty.

_'If we had stuck together, Roddy wouldn't have been cornered, and he wouldn't be stuck in the Internet right now.'_

Freakazoid nodded in agreement and typed a short **"I'm sorry. :(((((( "** back to Roddy.

**"Don't apologize to me, lad. This is all my doing, and I'm going to take responsibility for it! I'll get out eventually, and when I do, I promise I'll do my best to help you. For now, stay safe, keep your head down, and if you need anything? I'm always a click away. So long, lad. You're a good kid, make me proud."**

As Freakazoid read over Roddy's text, he hiccuped, and realized too late he had started crying.

_'Are you okay?'_

"It's just-*sniff*- I'm gonna miss him! He was a skirt wearing weirdo, but he was _my_ skirt wearing weirdo!"

_'He said he'll find a way out eventually. I'm sure someone who worked in Apex Industries can navigate the Internet, easy as pie!'_

"I hope so…"

_'Let's go find Duncan. He's waited long enough.'_

"Okay... Hey, Dexter?"

_'Yeah?'_

"Thanks for trying to cheer me up."

' _...No problem Freak.'_

=============================================================================================

Freakazoid found Duncan exactly where Gutierrez had told him he was, to Freakazoids delight and Dexter's relief. Duncan had been blissfully unconscious when they found him, and Freakazoid had decided the best method of getting Duncan home was to call a cab and chuck him in the back seat like a Saturday night drunk.

As Freakazoid shifted Duncan's weight over his shoulder, he pouted as Dexter tried once again to reason with him.

_'If you call a cab, then there'll be a witness of you going to my house! Also, you have no money! Just change back!'_

"But Duncan's so heavy! You can't carry him! If we transform back then you'll have to drag him all the way to your house and that'll suck."

Freakazoid finally made his way to the entrance of Apex Tower and walk past the automatic door briskly. He smiled as the fresh air hit his face and he pulled out his phone.

_'I need to get him to the hospital! Change back so I can call an ambulance!'_

"I can call an ambulance! Why do _you_ get to?"

_'Because I'm not gonna screw it up! Please, just change back before someone sees y-'_

"Hey, kid."

Freakazoid and Dexter both froze, Freakazoid unconsciously gripping his brother a little tighter. He turned around to see a single policeman standing next to his car, looking over Freakazoid and his somewhat compromising position carefully.

"Are you Dexter Douglas?"

Freakazoid felt his gut drop and gulped. How did he know?! Dexter began panicking and stuttering out excuses and explanations in vain, while Freakazoid slumped in defeat and nodded.

"Who's that kid you got there?"

"My brother Duncan…"

"Why's your brother unconscious?"

Freakazoid lowered Duncan into a a bridal position and pulled him closer, frowning as he remembered what Duncan had been through.

"Mr. Gutierrez zapped him cause he wanted me to stay."

The officer raised an eyebrow at that and after a moment, opened the back seat of his car.

"Set him down here."

Freakazoid just gripped Duncan closer and glared.

"He didn't do anything! _Please_ don't take him to jail! He's a jerky brother, but I'm pretty sure that's not a crime!"

The officer nodded and gestured invitingly into his back seat.

"He's not in trouble, kid. I'm here because I got a call that a Dexter Douglas was kidnapped. I'm taking you and your brother home."

Freakazoid keep glaring for another few moments before smiling and tossing his brother in the back seat. Freakazoid opened the passenger sate in the front and eagerly slid into it.

"Wowie! I've never been in a police car before! Can I turn on the lights?!"

The officer got into the front seat and re-adjusted the mirror mutely for a moment.

"Can I honk the horn? Ohhh! Windshield wipers! Can I-"

"Hey. Cut that out."

Freakazoid froze, then meekly put on his seatbelt.

"Hey kid."

"Yes, Officer?"

"I'm getting the feeling something strange happened in there. Wanna talk about it?"

_'You've already told him too much! Don't tell him anything, we-you don't know if you can trust him.'_

Freakazoid shifted uncomfortably, glancing around the car nervously. Dexter was kinda right, and he didn't want to get them in trouble. Maybe he should just book it? The cop would probably still drop Duncan off...

"We can go get some ice cream after we drop your brother off at the hospital. What do you say?"

Freakazoid couldn't resist. He completely blocked Dexter out as he grinned.

"Oh boy! Sure, let's go!"

The officer looked relieved for a moment but quickly resumed his neutral expression and nodded as he started his car and headed to the hospital.

================================================================================================

"So, you're name's Freakazoid?"

"Yup! I think it's-*slurp*-a good brand name. What's your name?"

The officer lowered his strawberry ice cream and smiled.

"My name's Cosgrove. You can call me Cosgrove."

Freakazoid nodded and inhaled the rest of his chocolate ice cream, wiping his sticky fingers on his shirt.

"Thanks for the ice cream Cosgrove! And thanks for not telling my parents where I was."

Freakazoid had quickly realized after the hospital staff had carted his brother away, that his parents would probably want some answers he didn't think he could give. Cosgrove had saved the day and called his parents, telling them where Duncan was, then told them he was doing an in depth interview with Dexter, so he'd be dropping him off later, and that Dexter was fine.

Cosgrove nodded and bit off a chunk of his ice cream cone.

"I get the feeling you don't usually look like this."

Freakazoid looked down at himself, sticky shirt, black hair, muscles, and blue skin. He looked back up at Cosgrove and shrugged in agreement.

"It's not on purpose! In fact, I can make myself look normal again, too."

"Then why don't you?"

Freakazoid sighed, frowning as Dexter repeated the same question inside his head.

"I'm...worried."

Cosgrove nodded as he ate the last chunk of his ice cream cone.

"About what?"

Freakazoid looked over Cosgrove, neutral face and all, and made a decision.

"Hey Cosgrove, can you keep a secret?"

For one second, Freakazoid could have sworn he saw something like relief on Cosgrove's face, but in a blink of an eye, it was gone.

"Sure kid. What's on your mind?"

Freakazoid leaned back on the cop car, unknowingly causing the car to squeak in protest.

"So, I'm kinda super strong and blue cause this thing called a Pinnacle chip zapped me, and that only happened cause my cat accidentally typed in this special sequence? And all this made the owner of Apex Industries, Mr. Gutierrez, get all power crazy, and he kidnapped me and my brother and this Scottish guy, Roddy who used to work there. And even though I stopped Gutierrez's evil scheme and saved my brother, Roddy got stuck in the Internet and Gutierrez is still out there!"

Cosgrove nodded along with Freakazoid explanation, chin in hand, giving the teen his undivided attention.

"And what's worse is that the chip didn't just make me into a smurf on steroids, but it also kinda split me? Like, I'm me and all, but also not? And I think the more me me might hate me. I'm scared he's gonna get rid of me. What if I never get to leave after this?"

Cosgrove was silent for a moment as Freakazoid looked to him with pleading eyes. Freakazoid was all too aware that Dexter had gone silent a while ago, and he was nervous as heck about how all this was gonna end for him.

"You want my advice kid?"

Freakazoid nodded vigorously, and Cosgrove sat up and readjusted his hat.

"I think you're a good kid, and Dexter is too. You and Dexter just need to talk about what you're both comfortable with, and treat each other with respect. Dexter's probably just worried you'll do something reckless, and he has good reason. Show him you can be reliable."

Freakazoid stared in awe for a moment as Cosgrove's words sunk in and grinned.

"You really think so?"

"Sure I do. And don't worry about Gutierrez, or Roddy. I'll make sure to keep an eye on Gutierrez for you, and Roddy's a grown man. He can take care of himself. You need to focus on your own problems right now, you're still a kid."

Freakazoid nodded earnestly, happy that such a responsible adult was looking out for him.

_'He's right…'_

"What?"

"I didn't say anything."

' _Cosgrove's right. I was just worried before, but you don't have to worry anymore Freak. I'll keep my promise as long as you keep yours.'_

Freakazoid felt himself relax shoulders he hadn't realized were tense in the first place.

"I'm a man of my word, Dexter. Thanks again Cosgrove! Freak IN!"

SHA-ZAP!

Cosgrove watched with a deadpan expression as a whirlwind flash of sparks turned out a disheveled Dexter.

"That's your password? Freak In?!"

_'I thought we had a theme going on!'_

"You okay, kid?"

Dexter flinched as he suddenly became aware of his surroundings.

"Y-yeah, just, getting by bearings…"

Cosgrove nodded and shifted to get out of the car.

"So, what flavor do you want?"

Dexter frowned in confusion for a moment before he realized Cosgrove was talking ice cream flavors.

"You don't have to-"

"I want to. Do you like chocolate too?"

Dexter hesitated, then blushed and nodded.

"Vanilla chocolate's my favorite…"

Cosgrove nodded and headed inside the ice cream parlor, leaving Dexter to his thoughts.

_'He's pretty great, right?'_

Dexter smiled tiredly and nodded. He had to admit he was happy he'd been wrong about Cosgrove. Telling someone about his-their problems was kinda nice.

' _So it's **us now, huh?'**_

"Pretty much! You're stuck with me Freak. Hope you realize what you've gotten yourself into."

_'Pfffft! I am you Dexter! I wouldn't have it any other way!'_

Dexter chuckled at Freakazoids enthusiasm, not noticing Cosgrove exiting the parlor with two ice cream cones in hand.

"Here's your ice cream, kid."

"Thank you Offi-"

"You can call me Cosgrove, too."

"Oh. Uh, thanks Cosgrove."

"No problem, kid. I wanted another ice cream anyway."

Dexter ate his vanilla chocolate for a moment before he yawned and slumped down.

"I should take you home soon. You look tuckered out."

Dexter nodded tiredly and licked his ice cream slowly.

Cosgrove watched Dexter for a few moments, then started his car and pulled out of the ice cream parlors parking lot.

"That Freakazoid is a good kid Dexter, and I can see you're an earnest kid yourself. If you two ever need anyone to talk to, don't hesitate to call me."

Dexter straightened up a bit and blushed again.

_'He's so cool! Say yes! Say we will!'_

"Thanks Cosgrove. Freakazoid says he will. And...I will too."

Cosgrove pulled up to Dexter's house and turned to him with a small smile, which to Cosgrove, might as well have been a beaming grin.

"I know your worried about Freakazoid, so if you ever want to send him to someone who'll keep him out of trouble, you can call me."

Dexter smiled and nodded. He'd been worried about his three time a week promise. Who knows what Freakazoid would do? Now he had a back up plan, and Freakazoid seemed to like him. Dexter handed his phone over to Cosgrove so he could input hs number and looked to his house nervously. He'd have to talk to his parents eventually, and he had no idea how to explain anything!

_'Do you think his number is 911?'_

"No, of course not."

"Here." Cosgrove said as he handed Dexter back his phone. "Don't worry about your parents, kid. If they have any questions, tell them to call me, I'll take care of it. You should head inside and rest. Take care of yourselves, okay?"

Dexter nodded thankfully and ran to his front door, waving goodbye to Cosgrove as he pulled out and drove away. Dexter watched him till he was gone, then headed inside and went straight to his room.

Mr. Chubbikins hissed as he entered his room and face planted into his bed. Dexter was too tired to care, rolling onto his back and yawning again.

_'Why are you so tired?'_

"Today's been exhausting. How are you not tired?"

_'I dunno. Want me to play whale sounds?'_

"You can do that?"

_'I wasn't joking about that Internet thing. I have more whale sound audio clips than I want to count! Because I **could** count them. But I won't. Cause I don't wanna.'_

"That's...worth testing out later. But not right now. I'm just gonna sleep."

_'Okie-Dokie! Nighty Night Dexter!'_

"Night, Freak…"

================================================================================================

"Dexter?"

"Ffffive, more minutes…"

"Sweetheart, I know you've had a long day. I just want to talk a bit."

Dexter rolled to his side and cracked his eyes open to the sight of his worried mother. He rubbed his face and tried to collect himself as he sat up.

"Yeah, what's-What do wanna talk about?"

Debbie pulled Dexter into a tight hug and patted down his hair, sighing before pulling away.

"The officer on your case told us what happened, and I just want to say I'm so happy you got out okay. You're brother's fine by the way, though you wouldn't know with how he's acting. He'll probably try to milk this for all it's worth."

Dexter smiled in relief as she spoke. He'd been wondering about Duncan, but with how his mom was framing it, it looked like he was back to his old self.

"Yeah, Officer Cosgrove was really great. Is Duncan still at the hospital?"

Debbie nodded and sighed again. She looked more tired than Dexter had ever seen her, and he couldn't help but feel a little guilty.

"He's been advised to stay overnight just in case, so your father's staying with him. I just came back because the officer called me and told me he'd dropped you off. I didn't think you'd want to be alone."

Dexter felt all warm inside at how considerate his mom was being. Not that she was neglectful or anything, but it was nice to know she was worried about him. Dexter pulled his mom into another hug. Mom had probably been worried sick after seeing him get kidnapped. She definitely looked it. Her hair was a mess, some of her makeup was smudged, and she looked like she needed to sleep for a week.

"Thanks mom. You know, you look pretty tired too. Wanna nap with me?"

Debbie pulled away from the hug, looking a little thrown at his suggestion. She looked around the room for a few moments and smiled and nodded. She kicked off her heels and pulled him close as they both fell on the mattress.

"You know you haven't cuddled with me like this since you were six? You always had nightmares."

Before Dexter could wine about his mom embarrassing him, Freakazoid started laughing inside his head.

_'Hahahah! We had the weirdest dreams! Remember the one about the wicker basket?'_

Dexter snorted and tried his stifle his giggles as the memories of a five year old Dexter running to his parents room about his bad dream filled his thoughts.

"What's so funny?" Debbie asked.

Dexter decided if his mom wanted to take a stroll down memory lane, he'd give her a tour worth taking.

'Remember when I was like, six? And I had a bad dream about grandma's wicker basket?"

Debbie gauffed and started giggling with unbridled delight.

"You-you were so upset! And when-when I finally calmed you down-Oh hehe! You told me is was about the scary basket at grandmas house!"

"It looked like a crow's nest it was so old!" Dexter defended, though he wasn't able to his his grin. It had been a pretty silly dream.

"Oh, sweetie! You have no idea how much I wanted to ask your grandmother for that basket. Your lucky I'm such a good mom, or I would have tormented you with that ugly thing."

Mr. Chubbikins, who at this point, was no longer feeling spiteful towards Dexter for his earlier actions, decided this was the best time to jump on the bed and sprawl across Dexter's legs.

"Hi, Mr. Chubbikins. Oof, you're heavy! I'm gonna get a leg cramp, aren't I?"

"We should really put that cat on a diet. He won't last much longer at this rate."

"Don't be mean mom. He's big boned."

"Sweetheart, his name is Mr. Chubbikins."

"Touche."

_'We like him all chubby! He's like an overstuffed pillow with a built in warmer!'_

Mr. Chubbikins meowed in offense to the current topic and dug his claws uselessly into Dexter's jeans. Debbie ignored the cat and started looking over Dexter as she idly played with his hair.

"You have your father's hair...And what's this!?"

Dexter flinched as she prodded his stomach lightly and pulled up the hem of his shirt slightly to reveal a purple bruise. He'd forgotten all about that! What, with all the kidnapping and super powers, high school bullies kinds fell into the background.

"Um! That-that's-"

"Oh, Dexter. I'm sorry honey.."

Debbie hugged him again, giving his bruise a wide berth and rubbing his back comfortingly.

"I should have done more…"

Dexter pulled away from his mom's hug and sat up, heart breaking as he realized she was tearing up.

"Mom, none of this was your fault. You did everything you could, and I'm fine!"

Dexter pulled her up and pulled a tissue out from his pocket, wiping her eyes as he continued.

"You were super cool too! Those guys were freaked o-, Really scared of you when you tried to fight them with that rolling pin! I was super proud."

Debbie smiled as she took the tissue from Dexter and dabbed her eyes.

"I didn't really think it through. I just took whatever looked heaviest and ran outside."

Dexter nodded encouragingly, pulling Mr. Chubbikins off his legs and into his lap.

"Yeah? Well, they were terrified. I wasn't scared cause I knew you wouldn't rest till I was safe. And look! Now I'm home, Duncan's fine, and you were amazing!"

Debbie nodded and sighed, lowering her tissue and looking Dexter over one more time.

"...You're really alright? All in one piece?"

_'Well, technically? No. But physically? Maybe!'_

"Not, helping."

"What was that dear?"

"I'm, fine. All in one piece. A little roughed up, but I'll be fine by the end of Christmas break."

Dexter shrugged and tried to smile in a way that looked relaxed. He knew he wasn't exactly banging on all four cylinders right now, but his mom had been through enough. His whole family had, really. Telling them about Freakazoid would only stress everyone out more, and they didn't need that. He could handle it. Probably.

Debbie sighed and straightened her dress out, then stood.

"It's times like these that remind me how much you've grown, Dexter. I'm going to check up on your father and Duncan, Lord knows what they've gotten up to while I've been away. You get some sleep, okay?"

Dexter nodded then flopped back onto his bed and rolled Mr. Chubbikins off him.

"Sweet dreams, dear."

"Bye, mom."

As Debbie left, Dexter sighed and pulled his phone from his pocket. He opened his contacts and stared long and hard at the short list of names. He glanced over Cosgrove's name for a second, but he didn't need to talk to him right now.

_'We don't know who to call.'_

"I know…"

As they scrolled past name after name, both stopped as they spotted the name they wanted in sync.

"Steff."

_'Steff.'_

"But what would I even tell her?"

_'Tell her we wanna go on a date! Or tell her we got kidnapped and beat up a bunch of grunts like a BOSS!'_

Dexter blushed and tossed his phone away on instinct as his thumb got dangerously close to pressing her name.

"NO! Why would I say any of that?!"

_'Because we want to? Oh! Tell her we think her eyes look like the clearest sapphire~ You can put that poetry to good use!'_

"You're insane. If I told her any of that, she'd hate me! We're best friends, I don't want to make it weird!"

_'Can't we try? We'll still be friends if she says no, right?'_

"No!...I don't know? Maybe? It's complicated. I don't want to risk it. Besides, she deserves someone better."

_'Hey! We're **awesome!'**_

Dexter chuckled at Freakazoid's angry reaction. He was super confident for someone with blue skin.

"Yeah, well, I think Steff deserves more than awesome. And also, if she liked us like that, don't you think she'd have asked us out?"

Freakazoid went deathly silent, and Dexter found himself holding his breath.

_'She can **do that?'**_

" _Obviously._ So until then-"

_'We need to seriously step up our game! Steff will **never ask us out at this rate!'**_

"The point is, she's never asking us out, and we shouldn't either! It's not worth it."

Freakazoid huffed in frustration from inside his head and grumbled something about communication problems and the princess bride.

Dexter rolled his eyes and reached over to pick his phone back up. He looked at Steff's name for a moment, then turned off his phone and set it aside. Steff didn't need a guy like him, and she definitely didn't need to be a part of all this trouble he'd gotten mixed up in.

Dexter toyed with the thought of seeing if his computer still worked and surfing the net, but the idea of doing maintenance was exhausting. Then he remembered.

"Hey, Freak?"

_'Hey is for horses!'_

"Can you really go on Youtube right now?"

_'Oh. Well, yeah? Wanna watch this new video of a cat looking at a motion illusion? It's so confused!'_

"Haha, no thanks. I'm just curious. Just how much of the Internet do you have access to?"

_'All of it'_

"But like, what parts?"

_'Dexter, I have access to all of it. Everything that's ever been, and everything that is. It's updating all the time, too. From the first ever string of code, to the newest update on Linda Edwards Facebook page. Haha! Oh Linda, you **minx!'**_

"What? So you're telling me you are the Internet?!"

_'Yes! No. Kind of? I'm not **The** Internet, I'm more like an extension with an all access pass. If I was **The** Internet, I'd wouldn't be Freakazoid.'_

"No _wonder_ you're so weird. How can you even _think_ with all that running through your brain?"

_'I just ignore it. It only gotten distracting when I'm trying to concentrate. Or when something really interesting happens!'_

"Like what?"

_'Well, so far, I've watched about 126 cat videos, watched a how-to video on how to make cinnamon rolls, and there's a **raunchy** new scandal between some Secret Service agent and this guy he accidentally fell in love with! Say's here they might have to send him back or just take him out. But take him **where?** '_

"Wait wait. _Secret Service?_ Where's that from?"

_'Just around. Maybe I shouldn't snoop, but how can I **not?** There are so many cool secrets in here! There's this other conversation where their talking about something called a 'False Flag'?'_

_"Get out! **Get out now!**_ You're not supposed to look at those!"

_'Say's who?'_

" _Says laws!_ You're probably looking at super secret correspondence! We could go to jail!"

_'Fine. False Flag sounded boring anyway...Oh. I just looked up the definition.'_

"Yeah. Try to stay away from those kinds of places from now on, okay?"

_'The Internet's a scaaaaaary place.'_

"Tell me about it."

Dexter closed his eyes and sighed, feeling sleep slowly descend on his conscious, he silently marveled at the impossibility of his situation. Maybe tomorrow would be better? Dexter thought about Christmas vacation, mom's ginger bread cookies, and the one day a year Duncan didn't attempt to physically harm him in any way. He also thought about Gutierrez, Roddy stuck in the Internet, and Cosgrove's advice. It honestly couldn't get any worse than today, and yet, maybe today hadn't been a total bust.

"Hey, Freakazoid. Do you need to sleep?"

_'I fell asleep when you did, so probably.'_

"Well, I don't know if you can tell, but I'm tired. So, Night."

_'See you tomorrow! Dream something fun for me, will ya?'_

Dexter yawned, pulled his blanket over himself lazily, and closed his eyes.

"I'll do my best…"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cosgrove is a gift that needs to be protected. He's one of the best characters in Freakazoid in my opinion, so I wanted to show him being great. Feedback and reviews are always appreciated, don't be shy guys, I need this more than I need food. Also check out Xamag-Main on tumblr! Their Freakazoid art and ideas are my inspiration, and their art style is to die for!


	5. Chapter 5! Meet The Lobe!

Matt Grayson was in heaven. He beamed as he watched his boss admire his latest invention, it's sleek steel design gleaming in the light.

"Absolutely genius! I cannot believe I overlooked such a visionary for so long! What a fool I was!"

Armando Gutierrez smacked his forehead, aghast at his own idiocy as he looked over the marvelous device Grayson had just finished. It was out of character for his boss to admit to any wrongdoing, much less in such an open manner, but Grayson understood that this was an exception. He'd just solved the world's energy crisis after all.

"MacStew! Get over here, you brainless oaf! You could learn a thing or two from Mr. Grayson here. Why I ever put you in a higher position than him, I'll never know."

Roddy MacStew, who had been busy tinkering with a pile of rusty scrap metal, stumbled up from his chair and bumbled over to Gutierrez meekly.

"I guess the cat's out of the bag. I tricked ya Mr. Gutierrez! I used my idiotic Scottish accent and ridiculous skirt to distract you from my incompetence. All my supposed genius inventions and ideas, I stole from The Great Mr. Grayson, and labeled as my own! I was just so jealous of his intelligence, he's so much smarter than me!"

Roddy turned to Matt and fell to his knees, bowing his head in shame.

"Can you ever forgive me? I know I'll never be as smart or amazing as you, but it would be an honor if you would allow me to work under you, even as a lowly servant."

Before Matt could respond, Gutierrez fell to his knees as well, still clutching Grayson's device in admiration.

"I too, would be honored to work for you, Mr. Grayson! I would sleep well, knowing Apex Industries is in the hands of such a capable and genious man."

Matt leaned back in his chair thoughtfully, grinning at the sight of his former boss and co-worker cowering before him.

"I don't know...Why shouldn't I just leave and strike out on my own? What makes you think I want to deal with either of you?" He teased, holding back a laugh as the both of them seemed to panic at his indecisive demeanor. Gutierrez spun around to all his employees in desperation.

"Everyone! Beg with me! Without this brilliant man, our company will surely fail! We'll all be jobless within the week!"

All Grayson's co-workers all fell to their knees in fear, some of them even bursting into tears and openly weeping for him to stay.

"Alright, alright! I suppose, I'll stay. Can't have this company falling apart without me, now can I? Roddy! Get over here, I need somewhere to put my legs up."

Gutierrez clasped his hands in relief as Roddy crawled over so Matt could prop his legs up on his back. He nonchalantly leaned back in his chair and snapped his fingers, Gutierrez's secretary scurrying over to hand him a coffee and blushing as he pulled her into his lap by her waist.

"Now this is something I could get used to." Matt sighed, leaning over to the secretary for a kiss. Suddenly, one of his co-workers stood and began marching toward him defiantly. Before Grayson could demand he get back on his knees, the man got right up in Grayson's face and yelled. "Hey Graymatter, GET UP!"

"Wha-?!"

Matt Grayson jolted upright in his seat, spilling cold coffee onto his dress shirt and shattering his mug.

"Whoops! Sorry about your cup, man. Let me just-"

Grayson scowled down at his ruined shirt then quickly directed it at his apologetic looking co-worker, Stan Dupp. How dare he wake him up so rudely! Grayson slapped Stan's hands away from the shards of his now shattered coffee cup, angrily scooping them up himself. Stan held up his hands defensively, leaning away from Grayson as he glared.

"Hey! I said I was sorry! It's not my fault you were sleeping on the job. Are you even done with your package yet? Mr. McStew's been asking about it."

"That's none of your business! Now, because of you, I have to take care of all this!" Matt hissed, dabbing his shirt with some tissues from his desk and leaning down to toss the shards of his favorite coffee cup in the trash.

Stan's mouth set in a hard line, unimpressed at Grayson's sour behavior.

"So I guess I'll just tell him you're behind again, huh? All you do is sleep during work hours and snoop around Mr. McStews desk. I'm surprised he hasn't reported you yet. You're lucky he's so nice, or you'd be fired by now, Graymatter."

Grayson tensed up at the nickname and leveled Stan with another withering glare.

"Don't, call me that. And I don't snoop around McStew's desk either! I'm just making sure he's doing his job properly. Am I the only person in this building who's realized how incompetent he can be? He broke the coffee machine because he couldn't figure out how to use it last week! And he's the head of coding and development!"

Stan rolled his eyes as Matt ranted and crossed his arms when he called Roddy incompetent.

"He's our boss, Matt. He's supposed to be supervising us, not the other way around. And besides, if anyone is qualified to be assessing him, it's Gutierrez, not you. And he fixed the coffee machine, remember? It was so old it broke down while he was using it, so he made us all a new one. It makes way better coffee too."

Stan took a sip of his own coffee to emphasize his point, looking down semi-sympathetically as Matt tossed out his mug. He'd always told Grayson then someday something like this would happen if he kept falling asleep on the job.

"What do you have against him anyway? He's super nice, laid back, smart. He keeps you around, and you're tanking right now."

Matt steadily grew more and more furious as Stan casually sang Roddy's praises, shaky hands curling into fists, barely restraining himself from punching Stan in the mouth. Mr. McStew's so kind! Mr. McStew's so fun! Isn't Mr. MacStew the smartest man you ever met? Pah! Grayson would show them. He'd show them all! Once he'd convinced Gutierrez, MacStew would be kicked to the curb!

"Well, you can tell MacStew that-"

"Can tell me what?"

Stan looked up and smiled, Grayson freezing in his seat as Roddy MacStew walked over to their desks curiously. Stan looked over at Matt's horror stricken expression, and mercifully answered for him, aa Grayson seemed to currently be in a state of shock.

"He was just saying he wanted me to tell you he's a bit behind on work. Isn't that right, Matt?"

Grayson pursed his lips, but nodded, turning around to face Roddy as he looked down at him critically. His attention seemed to be drawn to his shirt, and it took Matt a second to realize he was looking his his coffee stain. He blushed and looked down, clenching his jaw in embarrassment that MacStew of all people had to see him like this. Damn it all!

Roddy was silent for a moment, then smiled sympathetically and nodded, clapping Matt on the shoulder roughly.

'S'all right Grayson! You look like you've been having a rough time of it recently, and your work has been flawless so far! Why don't ya head off home to take care of that shirt? I can get someone else to finish coding whatever you've got left of that package. You'll be paid for the whole day, so just relax so you can get your head back in the game."

Stan looked over to Matt expectantly, obviously seeing Roddy's suggestion as some kind of opportunity. Grayson grinded his teeth, face twisting in a vain attempt to not scowl directly at MacStew. Was he trying to be nice, insulting his work and telling him to go home? Just because he spent a little longer on his work, didn't mean he was bad at his job! It was all McStew's fault! Stealing his promotion, of course he'd been out of sorts! But that would all change soon…

Grayson plastered on a smile, hoping MacStew didn't see through it as he shook his head.

"Thank you for the suggestion Mr. MacStew, but I think I can finish the package myself. A little spilled coffee is nothing to get upset over."

Roddy looked surprised at Grayson's response, but quickly recovered and laughed loudly, slapping Matt's shoulder hard enough to send the scrawny man lurching forward.

"You always impress me, Grayson! See Dupp, this is why Grayson almost got promoted instead of me. He's a sharp man! Alright, you finish that package and send it to me when you're done. I want this Pinnacle Chip done by next week and this package is gonna make or break it!"

Matt barely covered the grimace the warped his expression at Roddy's careless comment about his promotion. He nodded as Roddy walked around the office to check on the progress of the rest his workers. After he was sure MacStew was out of earshot, he cursed bitterly under his breath and got to work on coding the rest of the package.

"You seriously should've taken his offer. You look like you could use it." Stan needled, looking over Grayson's ruined attire skeptically. He was all too aware of how spite drove his desk neighbor, and was sure his rejection of MacStew's offer was driven by it. Matt would cut off more than just his nose to spite his face if Roddy was involved.

Grayson's brows lowered in annoyance at Stans comment. He hunched forward, refusing to take his eyes of his screen as he worked. He wouldn't give MacStew the satisfaction of finding any mistakes because he had a nosey and annoying co-worker.

"And you should mind your own business for once, Dupp. If I want your opinion, I'll give it to you."

Stan didn't even bother feeling offended by Matt's comment, merely shrugging in a 'I tried!' manner and getting back to his own work. If Grayson wanted to be a ass, who was he to stop him?

========================================================================================

"So, you work at Apex? I really love their new updated system! Recently, they've really been stepping up their game! I love my Apex computer, so I appreciate the good work you do."

Ira Fuse smiled sweetly at Matt, taking a sip of her strawberry shake as she spoke. She had brought her computer to their date when she'd found out he worked at Apex, apparently she'd been excited to show him some of her own coding work. She was a petite but cute looking blonde with short hair and green eyes. He barely contained his scoff as she chattered.

"Are you trying to impress me?" He droned with a sardonic frown, eyeing her laptop with a bored expression.

Ira's mouth snapped shut when he interrupted, raising her eyebrows in confusion she looked down at her computer screen.

"What do you mean?"

Matt rolled his eyes and pointed at her python shell mockingly.

"Do you expect me to be impressed with this? It's amature work at best, and all you've done is program something painfully simple. And this laptop? Did you get this just for this date?"

Ira flushed at he spoke, looking hurt for a moment before yanking her laptop away from him, closing it and shoving it in her backpack angrily.

"If you must know, I've been learning how to code for the past two months! I worked really hard to get this far, and I don't appreciate you talking down to me for it. And I got this laptop a year ago! Over 13 million people have Apex products of some kind, I brought my laptop because I thought it was a nice coincidence, not because I wanted to impress you! And even if I did any of this for you, wouldn't that be a good thing? Nice attitude by the way, I bet it does you a lot of favors. This date is over!"

Ira slung her bag over her shoulder, picked up her shake and got up angrily. Grayson gaped for a few moments as she made her way to to restaurant door, then scowled.

"Good luck find a man willing to deal with that attitude!"

Ira froze, the other restaurant goers not so subtly watching the drama falling silent. Ira spun on her heel, quickly making her way back to Grayson with murder in her eyes, her grip on her shake threatening to crush it. She stopped right in front of him, yanked her hand back, and threw her shake right in his face.

"You're a jerk."

Ira quickly marched out to her car, eyes wet and shake ruined, leaving Grayson frozen where he sat, strawberry shake dripping down his face and shirt. He blindly reached for napkins and wiped off his glasses, a shudder at the chill of the shake and his own shame leaving him too flabbergasted for words.

He looked around the restaurant, suddenly aware of the accusing glances and the whispers coming from the customers and staff. His face reddened in anger and he shot up, grabbing a fist full of napkins and tossing a 20 on the table as he made his way to his car.

This date was a nightmare, just like every other date he'd ever been on. What was he expecting? Every woman he'd ever courted was either shallow, stupid, or, like this one, a fake who only pretended to be smart! He'd known from the beginning of the date that she'd understood next to nothing about coding or technology, and only wanted to point out how pathetic she looked trying to impress him. If she really wanted to know about those things, she only needed to ask him. He actually knew what he was talking about.

Matt started his car, wiping his face roughly with a wad of napkins. He shouldn't have wasted his time with this stupid date anyway! With the Pinnacle chip near completion, he had bigger things to worry about. He'd barely managed to finish his package and send it to Roddy. He knew when MacStew finished with the chip, he'd only have a small window to enact his plan before it was produced and sent out for it's special limited Christmas release.

"When I'm done with you, MacStew, you'll wish Gutierrez had promoted me!"

===================================================================================================================

"It's thanks to everyone's hard work and individual talents that today, I'm proud to announce, we have completed the Pinnacle Chip!"

Roddy popped the champagne as all of Grayson's co-workers cheered, pulling party poppers and pulling out rolling tables full of cake and party food. Matt scowled, watching the employees of Apex celebrate McStew's achievement as if it was their own. That's how he got you. He pretended that all his work was a team effort, then took all the credit for himself! He'd fallen for it once too, and look where that got him. Not promoted, that's where!

"Are you seriously going to mope around at a party?" Stan groaned, already preparing himself for some angst filled outburst from the sour looking man. Only Matt Grayson could find an excuse to hate on a party about the completion of a revolutionary leap in technology, five years in the making.

"I'm not moping. I'm not going to pal around like some empty headed idiot just because everyone else is."

Grayson watched MacStew as he poured wine out for the other party goers, intently watching for MacStew to pour himself a drink. He just had to wait for the Scottish idiot to drink himself silly, then he'd have his chance.

Stan looked at Grayson's intent expression worriedly. He seriously didn't know why he even tried with him anymore. They'd been good friends in their early days working together at Apex, but as Grayson quickly rose in the ranks, he'd left Stan behind. When Roddy came into the picture, everything changed. Grayson became obsessed with outdoing the man, and while it had looked like a playful rivalry to Stan, Grayson had been devastated when Roddy was promoted.

Stan supposed after seeing him so upset, he'd hoped they could reconnect, and that maybe Matt wouldn't be so distant after being knocked down a few notches. Instead, Grayson had become even more distant, and he'd treated Stan like a complete stranger. He even seemed to hate Stan's old nickname for him, Graymatter. It had been an in joke with them, considering his name and how smart he was, but now Grayson seemed to only see it as an insult.

"Well, I think I'll leave you two alone." Stan sighed, giving Matt a pat on the shoulder as he went to get himself a slice of cake, leaving his former friend to his obsession.

Matt didn't bother wiping the sweat off his brow as he typed, too focused on his current task. He only had so much time to finish inputting his virus, and who knew if someone would walk in? He'd been planning this for months, and now was not the time for mistakes.

Matt Grayson had realized sometime while fuming over at his desk that he had the perfect opportunity to ruin Roddy MacStew's career, and the Pinnacle Chip was the way to do it! He'd then spent every moment since, working day and night testing and developing a virus he could input into the Pinnacle chips code, and boy was it a dozy!

His virus, when applied to the finished product, would overload all the chips processes, totally destroying it and the computer with it! The property damage alone would ruin Roddy, not to mention the virus would appear so vague and complicated only he would be able to fix it! His plan was perfect!

Grayson would go to Gutierrez, tell him MacStew had allowed a flaw to remain in the chip, and when Gutierrez saw- Oh, he'd be so mad! MacStew would be fired on the spot! And even if he attempted to fix it, it would be no use! He'd be ruined, and Grayson would finally be-

*Ding!*

"Yes! Yes it's done!"

Matt stood from the main servers controls and let out a breathy laugh as the coding sequence blended perfectly with the rest of the Pinnacle Chip. Manufacturing would be starting in four days, and while it had been a challenge to hack into the finished product, he knew the results would be worth it.

Grayson straightened out his suit, then started to make his way to the door so he could head back to the party when the door knob suddenly turned and opened right in his face.

"Oh!"

"OW!"

Matt fell back side first into the hard ground, rubbing his now tender nose and adjusting his glasses.

"Grayson! Didn't expect to find ya here. Sorry bout that, let me help you up!"

Matt paled as strong arms pulled him from the floor, dusting him off roughly. This was the last person he wanted to see!

"Ma-Mr. MacStew! What-what are you doing here?"

"Could be asking you the same!"

Grayson stiffened, schooling his expression in hopes he wouldn't rouse suspicion. Who was he kidding? He'd been found! Roddy looked over Graysons suspicious demeanor, squinting as he looked Grayson in the eyes for what felt like forever, but was more likely a few seconds. Roddy then abruptly broke into a grin and patted his back roughly.

"I'm just joshi'n ya Grayson! Here! I want to show ya someth'in!"

Roddy dragged Matt towards the same server he'd been on just moments before, only serving to make Grayson even more anxious and MacStew started it up and logged into the Pinnacle Chips mainframe.

"You recognize this, right? Well, I'm about to show you what really makes this baby tick!"

Roddy pulled a thumb drive from his pocket and plugged it in and Grayson watched as package after package began uploading into the chips system.

"What is that?" Grayson inquired, leaning forward to try and read the package names quickly scrolling by.

"It's my secret ingredient! Keep this a secret, but I always put a good amount of extra work into my major projects to give everything an extra kick!"

Grayson let MacStew's words register for a moment before balking as he realized something.

"Wait! If you upload it now, then does that mean Gutierrez hasn't paid you for it? No over time?!"

Roddy laughed, pressing a few keys and closing the mainframe again as he pulled his thumb drive from its slot and put it back in his pocket.

"I do this for fun! It makes me happy to see my work really stand out, and it wouldn't be fair for me to get extra pay for something I do in my free time. I just want the Pinnacle chip to get the success it deserves, and besides, my add ons will only be giving it a little boost."

Grayson quickly tried to assess what effect Roddy's add ons would have on his virus, but MacStew distracted him by goodnaturedly pulling him back to the party.

"Enough about work, yeah? Let's celebrate a job well done! I'm real proud of ya Grayson, you really pulled through. I couldn't have done it without ya!"

Matt smiled nervously, ignoring Roddy's empty praise in favor of assassing his viruses success rate and doing mental damage control. There was a good chance MacStew's add ons wouldn't affect the virus at all. On the other hand there was a chance they might even strengthen it. How would that work out? Matt couldn't really imagine anything worse than the computer exploding, so who knew? Maybe it would cause a blackout?

"Three cheers to Apex!"

Matt grinned, accepting the wine glass Roddy passed him as they raised their glasses. Well, what's done is done, and he was sure he'd done his due. He glanced to MacStew and sipped his wine. Soon MacStew would be a nothing but a passing memory.

=================================================================================================

"To me, and the investments that pay off!"

Armando Gutierrez leaned back in his plush office chair, setting his feet onto his desk and taking a delicate sip of his favorite wine. Production of the Pinnacle chip would be starting in a few days, the preparations were already underway.

"Five years...And it's finally here." Gutierrez chuckled quietly to himself.

Gutierrez had been troubled by the lack of progress on the Pinnacle chip, to say the least. The original creator of the chip had been one of his star employees, until an untimely accident had left him in a coma, halting production to a stand still. All Gutierrez's attempts of reviving it had led to nothing but disappointment. He'd even considered canceling production all together. He'd only been given hope by the up-and-coming geniuses he'd employed last year, MacStew and Grayson.

Grayson had originally been his first choice, considering his intelligence and eager to please attitude. The only reason he'd been overlooked for head position for the project was because of his rivalry with Roddy MacStew. Roddy had everything Grayson sorely lacked. Presence, energy, great communication skills, determination. Roddy had the charisma needed to lead and Grayson had none. Gutierrez knew the moment he'd given MacStew the reins to the Pinnacle chips production that he wouldn't be disappointed. In a little more than a year, MacStew had created what Gutierrez knew would be the crown jewel of Apex Industries. Of course, he hadn't forgotten about Grayson.

Grayson had soured considerably after being overlooked for the promotion , and Gutierrez had decided to put that sour attitude to good use. He knew putting Grayson under MacStew would frustrate Grayson into a sort of spite filled competitive drive, and after monitoring his progress, could see he'd been right. Yes, Grayson had had the occasional hiccup once and a while, but a strategically placed pay raise here, some convenient words of encouragement there, and Gutierrez kept him carefully teetering on the edge of a rage filled meltdown, playing the desperate to please man like the moderately priced harmonica he was.

While some might see the treatment as cruel, Gutierrez knew it was for the best. Had Grayson been promoted, he'd have gotten a big head and inevitably proven himself more trouble than he was worth. Gutierrez had seen it before, and he would much rather deal with an angry but useful brown noser than a cocky nerd who was too big for his britches.

"Mr. Gutierrez?"

Gutierrez jumped, almost spilling his wine as he was startled from his thoughts. He turned to see one of his guards peeking into his office meekly. Gutierrez frowned, then nodded for him to speak.

"There's a Matt Grayson here to see you."

Gutierrez scowled, sighing as he took his feet down and set his wine aside.

"Speak of the devil...Send him in!"

His guard nodded, closing the door as Gutierrez straightened his suit and collected himself for the inevitable. He should have suspected Grayson would be upset, especially considering what a victory this would be for MacStew.

Grayson walked into his office with an air of urgency that worried him immediately.

"Mr. Gutierrez! I'm-I'm so sorry to have disturbed you while you were celebrating and-"

"Just get on with it, Grayson. What is so urgent, that you need to interrupt me while I commemorate the joyous occasion that is the completion of the Pinnacle chip?"

"That's just it sir! It's the chip, it-it has a flaw!"

Gutierrez stiffened, then motioned for his guard to shut the office door as he straightened and loomed over Grayson threateningly.

"A flaw, you say? And how is it, may I ask, that a flaw has made its way into the Pinnacle chip? What exactly is this flaw?"

Grayson shrank under Gutierrez's threatening air for a moment before clearing his throat.

"It's-It's a flaw that will fry the chip and the computer if activated. I discovered it a few days before the chips completion, but when I told Mr. MacStew he-He told me he'd ruin me if I told anyone! I wanted to say something, I really did! But I was so scared. I only hope you can do something before it's released! If that flaw gets out, Apex could be ruined!"

Gutierrez pursed his lips as he digested Grayson's words. On one hand, Grayson could be attempting to halt production and cast MacStew under a bad light in some pathetic attempt at revenge. On the other, if there really was a flaw (Made by MacStew or Grayson, that would be for Gutierrez to judge) he couldn't risk the potential backlash from the public. The Pinnacle chip was already facing critique for it's five year development, a flaw could be the final nail in the chips coffin.

Gutierrez scowled as he came to a decision, stranded so he could properly loom over Grayson's scrawny stature. Gutierrez leaned forward and hissed through perfect teeth.

"Listen to me, very, carefully. I will thoroughly investigate this flaw, but if I do not find anything? It will be your head Grayson. Mark my words."

Grayson nodded quickly as Gutierrez finally leaned back, straightening his suit once more and he sat down.

"Now get out of my office! Because of you, I have some business to attend to."

Grayson scrambled out of his chair, nodding as he was ushered out of Gutierrez's office by his guard and mumbling hasty 'thank you's as he went. Gutierrez sighed once again, eyes landing on his now flat glass of wine. He grumpily pushed the glass off his desk into the trash and picked up his phone. He pressed a special name in his contacts and stood once again, pacing slowly as he waited.

"Yes? Yes, hello again. Yes, there seems to be a bit of a problem with the chip. Well of course I mean the Pinnacle ship! Well- No, no I just need you to run some tests...All of them... Yes, even the test dummy...I can't have all my hard work fall apart now...Yes, well thank you...This weekend should be fine...Alright, I'll be seeing you then. Don't disappoint me."

Gutierrez hung up, pocketing his phone and turning to his window. He always found himself admiring the view from this window when things grew dark. It helped remind him of how far he'd come, everything he'd sacrificed, and what he was willing to do to keep his position as owner of Apex Industries.

"This chip is almost more trouble than it's worth...Almost."

=====================================================================================================

Two Days Later!

Alec Tricity grabbed his phone with shaky hands as Andy Gravity hyperventilated into a crumpled paper bag. This was impossible! Totally unheard of! Inconceiva-

"Hello? Hello, is this you, Gravity? Why on earth have you called me at four in the morning?!"

Alec fumbled with the now sweat slicked phone and brought it to his face desperately.

"Gutierrez! Cheese and crackers, It's the chip it's-it's just-! You have to get here right now! You won't believe it! I don't believe it! It's just-"

"Calm down, man! Where is Gravity? Get him on the phone!"

Alec looked over to his partner as he fell into the fetal position and began to rock back and forth.

"He's...Well he not doing too good right now. But sir! You have to get here now! This chip's flaw-"

"So it does have a flaw? Damn It!"

Alec bit his lip nervously as he lightly nudged his unresponsive partner with his foot. Yeah, Andy was gonna need a minute, maybe an hour.

"No sir! Listen, there is a flaw but-It's not just a flaw! It did something! To the- You just need to get over here! I have to go, Andy needs me but- Get over here sir. Just-"

*Clack!*

"Shit!"

Alec hissed as he reached down to pick up his now shattered phone screen. He tapped it uselessly, but it was no use. Deciding he had more pressing matters to get to, Alec threw the phone aside and reached over to rub his partners back soothingly.

"It's gonna be okay, Andy. So we might have seen some super crazy stuff just now! No big, right? Mr. Gutierrez's gonna come over and tell us what's up, I'm sure of it! Then, he's gonna give us a biiiig pay raise, and we're going on vacation! Just you, me, and the hot, Hawaiian sun!"

Andy seemed to calm down a bit as Alec spoke, uncurling from his fetal position and tuning to Alec with bloodshot, haunted eyes.

"We played God, Al. It shouldn't be possible for something like that to even begin to assemble a consciousness and yet-"

Alec brought up his finger to Andy's mouth and shushed him softly, patting his back and shaking his head.

"We didn't play God, Andy. We just did some tests, and one of them brought up a...weird, result. Besides, how do you know we didn't just hallucinate it?"

Andy sat up and glared at Alec, then pointed to the decapitated test dummy in the other room.

"There is no hallucination related explanation that can convince me I didn't just see that dummy-"

"TRICITYYYYYYYYYY! Why am I here?!"

Andy and Alec's heads both turned in unison as Gutierrez came marching into their observation room with guards in tow. Alec shot up, pulling Andy up with him.

"Gutierrez! Thank goodness! I-I can explain! It's-Well, actually, I can't really explain-"

Gutierrez rolled his eyes at Alec's stuttering and turned to Andy expectantly. Andy nodded and turned to the monitoring screens.

"This is all the footage we have of the tests we did with the Pinnacle chip. All 15 camera angles. Our studies turned up virtually nothing until we typed in a certain sequence. Sadly, the computer that was monitoring the sequences is...out of commission at the moment, but we'll try to recover what we can."

Andy turned on three computer screens and fast forwarded past footage of a stationary test dummy sitting in front of a flickering computer screen. Gutierrez watched as the footage scrolled on by without incident.

"Around 4:15 at night while we took shifts watching for any response from the chip, we saw a very...It was startling to say the least."

"Just show me already!"

Gutierrez huffed in frustration as the screens continued to show nothing of interest. Andy grimaced, then nodded and after a moment stopped fast forwarding the footage.

"This...Is what we saw."

Gutierrez kept his eyes glued to the largest screen, which showed a wide view of the dummy and the computer, stationary as usual. Just as Gutierrez sighed and began to turn to Andy for a good talking to, all three screens flashed bright white. Gutierrez gasped, one of his guards stepping forward in shock.

"Is the screen-?"

"The screens are not malfunctioning, the light produced by the computer monitor was really that bright."

Gutierrez watched in confusion as the screens glowed dangerously bright, squinting in hopes of seeing whatever was happening to the dummy exposed to such oppressive brightness. As suddenly as the light began, it stopped, Gutierrez blinked the spots from his eyes and searched the screen. The dummy had slumped a bit, and the monitor and computer both looked fried, but that was it. Just an especially violent-

"Duuuuuh, where the shiny go?"

Gutierrez's jaw dropped as the dummy shambled onto its feet, scratching its plastic head and looking around with its eyeless face.

"Hey shiiiiiinyyyyyy! Shiny where are you? Whoops!"

The test dummy tripped over its chair, ramming its head straight through the flat screen computer monitor. One of Gutierrez's guards stumbled till his back was to the wall, the other ones eyes glued to the screen in horror. The test dummy flailed for a moment, then stood upright, wobbling dangerously with the monitors extra weight.

"Hey! Get this off'a me! Shiny! Save meeee!"

The dummy stumbled around on wobbly plastic feet, then was yanked back by the monitor cord.

"AHH!"

The dummy's head fell with the heavy monitor, the weight and impact of the fall knocking the dummy's head clean off. Gutierrez fell an odd mixture of amusement and horror at the sight. The dummies body fell in a lifeless heap onto the floor, and after a full minute of silence, Andy turned the screens off.

"...Alec and I called you a few moments later."

Gutierrez swallowed, attempting and failing to collect himself. He turned to his guards and gestured for them to leave, waiting as they filed out of the room quickly. He then turned to Andy and Alec.

"Do you have any idea how this happened?"

Andy attempted to respond, but could only open and close his mouth uselessly. Alec took pity on his partner and stepped forward.

"We think whatever caused that, reaction, was the flaw you spoke about. Whatever's inside that chip somehow overloaded and affected the dummy in a...unique way. We still need a lot more time to research its effects in different ways-And that's not even considering how long it'll take to find the correct sequence again! All we know, Mr. Gutierrez, is that what we saw, shouldn't be possible. This chip, however it's done what it has, is a scientific breakthrough in ways I can't even comprehend."

Gutierrez nodded seriously, eyes locking onto the tesy dummy he'd overlooked in the observation room.

"I understand...Can you tell me, in layman's terms, how do you think a human being would be affected by what the dummy experienced?"

Alec paused, face taking on a thoughtful expression. Before he could respond, Andy stepped forward urgently.

"There is no way a human being would be affected in the same way the dummy was. A human would probably die being exposed to that! Or worse. It looked like that beam of light gave the dummy, an inanimate object might I add, the ability to think and speak! If a human was exposed to the same thing, they might experience brain damage, severe burns, a concussion, maybe even insanity! And if not? What if they become some kind of mutated monster? The margin for error is too great to expose to humans, not without great risk to us, at least."

Gutierrez brought his hand up to rest under his chin, brow creasing in thought. He had many options, the most obvious ones being, discontinue the Pinnacle chip or get rid of the flaw. While to some, this would be the most logical course of action, Armando Gutierrez was a man who got where he was by thinking smart, not logically.

"You called this flaw a scientific breakthrough, Alec. Tell me, how much do you think one would want to research such an anomaly?"

Andy frowned as Alec thought Gutierrez's words over.

"With time? This flaw could easily change the entire world, and our understanding of reality as we know it. I would pay you to let me research it...But this was only a test chip. Aren't going to discontinue it? I mean, the chances may be slim, but if anyone was exposed to what we just saw, who knows what'll happen? You could get in real trouble."

Gutierrez smirked, Andy shuddering at his suddenly confident air.

"I see no reason to discontinue the Pinnacle chip over something...so unlikely. And why keep it's untapped potential from the public? I say let them have their chip, and in exchange, we get some free...volunteers, you could say."

Andy and Alec shared a knowing glance as Gutierrez spoke, both understanding what they were hearing would not be shared with anyone outside the current rooms occupants.

"You two will soon be tasked with researching this chip, and I want to be given reports every time you discover anything of interest or importance. I will provide the test subjects, when they occur, and you can research to your heart's content. I want to know the full extent of what this chip can do! Your first task will be re-discovering the flaws sequence!"

Alec and Andy nodded in unison, both straightening under Gutierrez's demanding presence. Gutierrez made his way to the door, then stopped to look back at the men.

"I expect this conversation to stay between us, unless you have any complaints?"

Alec shook his head furiously, then looked urgently to Andy, who paused for a moment before also shaking his head,

"Good. I'll be checking in with you two tomorrow. I won't be able to provide any more chips until production starts, so until then, I suggest you order some more dummies."

The researchers nodded as Gutierrez left them, gesturing for his guards to follow him from where they waited in the hallway. As Gutierrez left the research facility and made his way to his car, he couldn't help the small grin pulling at his lips. He'd known that the Pinnacle chip would be the game changer that would put Apex Industries at the top, but he hadn't even considered it would be this great!

He idly wondered who exactly had been at fault for the chips flaw, Grayson or MacStew? In the end, he could care less who had done it, as long as they continued to be useful, they were golden. And if they caused any trouble? He had ways of dealing with troublesome employees. Which reminded him!

"Remind me to send Adam Myway some flowers! He was the original creator of the Pinnacle chip after all. Ah, but don't trouble yourself with what kind, he's been in a coma for four years, so I'm sure he won't mind."

Gutierrez smiled as his tower came into view. Soon, Apex Industries wouldn't be just another tech company. It would be _The_ tech company, and Armando Gutierrez would finally have all the power he deserved.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I want all my wonderful readers to know that I'll be updating with new chapters pretty frequently until I get to chapter ten, then I'll be updating monthly.
> 
> With this chapter, I changed timeliness and perspectives because I really like the Lobe as a character, and I wanted to give him a cool back story to go with his interesting personality. I also wanted to get into Roddy's life before the Pinnacle chip flaw and why the Pinnacle chip got a flaw in the first place. The idea of combining the two was too good to pass up, so Matt Grayson was formed! I want pre Lobe Grayson to represent all the high and mighty entitlement of smart people with big heads, so if you find Matt to be insufferable, don't worry, that's on purpose!


	6. Chapter 6! GrayMatter and The Matter Splatter!

When Matt Grayson came into work on Monday, his co-workers stopped in their tracks at the sight of him. At first glance, one could say Matt came into work looking the same as usual, same coat, same shoes, same haircut. What was turning heads and dropping jaws about Matt appearance was one simple thing.

He was smiling.

"It's just not natural." Stan deadpanned. He'd been taken aback in the beginning as well, but quickly acclimated to his friends strange attitude. He'd tried to test the waters to see if Matt had magically grown his sense of humor back, but when Grayson cheerfully told him to stuff it, Stan knew that this cheery attitude was only a thinly veiled red herring.

Grayson ignored Stan, idly pouring a cup of coffee and whistling to himself as he added some sugar and cream. What did Stan know? Grayson was acting more natural than he had in months! Soon, Gutierrez would announce Roddy's termination, and Matt would finally be promoted to the position he'd deserved all along!

"It's gotta be an omen or something…"

"Oh, get over it Dupp! I'm in a good mood, it's not like I punted a baby or anything."

"When you're in a good mood, nothing good comes of it. The last time something like this happened, you'd filled all the football teams lockers with shaving cream and hair, and we both got detention for a month!"

Grayson chuckled at the memory. Those bullies had asked for it! No one gave him a wedgie in front of the class and got away with it!

Grayson stilled as he noticed Stan also chuckling at the story and then Stan smiled at him. For a moment, Grayson could almost remember why he and Stan had been such good friends. Matt frowned and set his coffee on his desk as he sat down. Stan and him had been close once, joined at the hip really. The only reason they'd grown apart had been because of his own hubris.

As Stan went back to typing, Matt couldn't help but feel a little guilty. Stan had been a good friend, and even now, while he was no doubt a sarcastic jerk, he was also the only one in the office who still talked to him after he'd failed to get his promotion.

Stan cared, in his own way, and in his cheery mood, Matt couldn't deny the yearning he suddenly felt to reconnect. Maybe after he took Roddy's spot, he could try again? He wouldn't let the power go to his head this time, and maybe then he wouldn't feel so alone any-

"Goooood Morn'nin! Production starts today everyone! The Pinnacle chip is officially realized! Give yourselves a pat on the back you geniuses, just look at'er!"

Roddy MacStew came into the office with his usually energy and flair, smiling like a kid on Christmas and holding up a small, metallic plastic chip for all to see. Grayson's jaw dropped in horror, eyebrows twitching as Roddy walked around the office, showing off the finished chip to his eager employees.

Stan cringed in some sympathy adjacent emotion as Grayson bumped his coffee in shock, accidentally spilling some of it on his sleeve and hissing in pain as the scalding liquid seeped into his shirt. Grayson was in so much shock he didn't even slap Stans hand away as he took out a tissue and dabbed Matt's shirt.

"How? How?! He-He shouldn't be-"

"Eeeeasy there, GrayMatter. Remember? There's that special limited production sale? We're sending out about one hundred of those things around the Washington DC area like, five months in advance for double the price? Marketing strategy, I think? It's supposed to hype up the product before it's official worldwide release."

Grayson's eyes narrowed on Roddy as the man pulled out a box and started handing out chips to all the staff like candy at a parade.

"He shouldn't. Be here."

Stan sighed and leaned back from Grayson, tossing the coffee soaked tissue he'd dried Matt with into the trash.

"You keep saying that, but have you seen our employment files? I keep checking and believe it or not, Mr. MacStew's been in there every time. It's super weird, I know. Have you ever considered that maybe he works here because he might be good at his job?"

Matt sent Stan a venomous glare and and stood abruptly, making his way over to Roddy with threatening purpose.

"Oh, 'ello, Grayson! Here. Gutierrez said I could get one for everyone in the office!"

Matt clenched his jaw and stiffly held his hand out as Roddy handed him a chip. Grayson pocketed it quickly and grabbed Roddy's forearm with barely restrained anger.

"Can I talk to you?" He hissed, struggling to not squeeze the circulation from Roddy's arm.

Roddy actually looked worried for a moment, his brows creasing in concern. It was gone in a flash though, and MacStew nodded. As Grayson led Roddy away, Stan motioned negatively to Matt, trying to impart some desperate message through hand movements and distressed facial expressions.

Matt sent him a single scowl and led Roddy into the hallway, careful to shut the door behind him.

"Did you talk to Gutierrez today?"

Roddy frowned a bit and nodded. "Well, of course. He wanted to tell me production was running smoothly and showed me the finished chips. I asked him if I could give everyone a sample too. What's wrong Grayson?"

Matt thought about how to broach the subject he wanted without incriminating himself at the same time. An idea popped into his head and Matt's demeanor softened as he leaned against the hallway wall, gesturing Roddy to lean next to him.

"Mr. MacStew...Can I call you Roddy?"

MacStew nodded and leaned next to Matt.

"Course ya can! What's bothering you?"

"Thank you….Roddy, I'm worried about the chip."

Roddy straightened up as Grayson spoke and frowned.

"Why would ya be? The chips working just fine!"

Grayson schooled his features into what he hoped looked like a worried and friendly expression.

"I know, but...Roddy, all those packages you added, I know you didn't mean any harm...I'm just worried they might clash with the original code in the Pinnacle chip. I don't want to sound rude, but it's a bit unfair that you would add all this code into the chip without getting any review from everyone else. It just doesn't seem right to me, and if anything were to go wrong…"

Roddy paled as Matt spoke, a genuine look of distress on his face. Matt held back a grin as he finished. His plan was working to perfection.

"Do you really think something could go wrong? I was so sure I'd done everything right…"

"Well, you can never really know, can you? I mean, even I need someone to look over work. Mistakes happen, no matter how careful you are. I don't want to worry you, I just wanted to make sure. If the chip is sent out with a flaw, who knows what could happen?"

At this point, MacStew looked considerable less energetic and peppy then he did just a few minutes ago. Grayson hid his sneer and instead patted Roddy's shoulder in faux sympathy.

"Cheer up! I'm sure Gutierrez would forgive you for any mistakes. And besides! It's only about one hundred orders, I'm sure if there are any mistakes, you can get them all fixed up before the official release!"

Roddy nodded sadly, pushing himself away from the wall, he sighed.

"Yeah, I'm sure...Listen Grayson, I-I think I need to check on some things for a bit. Can you tell the staff I'll be off for a bit?"

Grayson plastered on a plastic smile and nodded kindly.

"Of course. You just get along now and take care of whatever you need. I can handle things on this end, so no worries!"

MacStew nodded gratefully and quickly made his way down the hall. After MacStew had turned a corner, Grayson finally let himself grin in sadistic glee. For a supposed prodigy, Roddy was painfully easy to manipulate. Just a little prodding and he was second, third, and fourth guessing himself!

"Have fun finding my virus, Roddy old friend…"

===========================================================================================

Stan had been pestering Matt for three minutes straight and Grayson was on his last nerve.

"Seriously, what did you say to him? I swear if you threatened our boss-"

"He just told me had something to work on. Let it go. I didn't do anything!"

Dupp gave Grayson his best I'm-watching-you glare and went back to work, glancing back at Grayson every few moments suspiciously. Matt just scowled and went back to work, glancing back at the door to the office every few moments in worry.

He'd hoped that Roddy would find the virus and report it to Gutierrez by now, but he was worried that Roddy might actually be able to take care of it himself. He hated MacStew, but even he had to admit that Roddy was smart. He only hoped that Roddy was too guilt ridden to try and hide his "mistake' and just turn himself over to Gutierrez for punishment.

Almost three hour later, Roddy still hasn't come back and it was really starting to worry him. What if his virus had somehow been deleted by Roddy's new code? What if Roddy just got rid of it himself? What if Gutierrez didn't fire Roddy?!

Grayson stood, no longer able to just sit and wait. He had a feeling he would regret doing this, but he needed to see the fruits of his labors! He'd spent months on this plan, and countless hours, he wouldn't let last minute interference ruin it all!

"Please don't do something stupid." Stan sighed, not even bothering to look up from his computer as Grayson pushed his chair back in. Matt didn't bother to answer, pocketing a small device before speed walking to the door and making his way to Gutierrez's office.

As Grayson weaved through the hallways, he thought over his plan and all its flaws.

He knew Gutierrez favored Roddy over him, and the notion of Gutierrez covering up Roddy's 'mistake' wasn't impossible. He also knew that unless truly pressed, Gutierrez wouldn't fire Roddy without a very good reason. He'd been hoping he wouldn't have to do this, but in the end, Grayson was nothing if not prepared to resort to blackmail.

Grayson stopped in front of the security ridden office door of Armando Gutierrez and steeled himself. He took a deep breath and meekly asked one of the guards if he could speak to the boss. The guard cracked open the door, then looked over to Matt and nodded.

Grayson walked briskly into the large office and immediately made his way over to Gutierrez's desk, pulling his hands from his pockets and slamming them into the desk loudly.

"How can you allow the chip to be sold?!"

Gutierrez looked nonplussed in the face of Grayson's outrage, not bother to look at the offending hands abusing his desk in favor of pouring himself a glass of sparkling wine.

"We are a company who sells computer chips, Grayson."

Grayson finally pulled his hands away from the desk and stepped back angrily.

"You know what I mean! That chip is flawed! How can you just-"

"I, am the owner and President of Apex Industries, that's how. I have reviewed your complaint, and have seen to it that no flaw resides within the Pinnacle chip. At least, not to my knowledge."

"I told you there was something wrong with it the code. I told you who was responsible. You are willingly allowing this to reach the public! What if someone gets hurt?!"

Gutierrez took a careful sip of wine as Grayson spoke, calm and collected as always, before setting his glass down and facing Matt.

"Lets stop with these games, my friend. Tell me what you really want. Is it Roddy? I suppose you're still sore about that promotion..."

Matt balked at Gutierrez's words and flushed with rage and embarrassment as he casually recalled his promotion.

"THAT-That has nothing to do with this!"

Gutierrez smiled, knowing he struck a nerve, he sat up and grinned.

"Oh really? Then I hope you can trust that MacStew will take care of any flaw that may or may not reside within the Pinnacle chip, won't you? Your worries are unfounded, my friend. If there is anything wrong with the chip, Roddy can take care of it, and probably already has!"

"But-"

"That is ENOUGH!"

Matt stepped back in fear as Gutierrez stood and scowled down at him in frustration.

"Your constant questions and needling tasks me so! This is the last time you enter my office for such foolish reasons! Is that understood?"

Grayson opened his mouth, then quickly shut it and nodded mutely, barely able to contain his protests. Gutierrez was silent for a moment, then smiled and straightened his suit before sitting once again.

"Good! Now run along, my friend. I have work to do."

Matt glared, but nodded and quickly made his way out the door. He gave the security grunt a sour look and began the long walk back to his office. At least it felt long. Everything felt longer and more painstaking after getting yelled at. Grayson's expression turned to a grimace of anger as he clenched his fists.

He took in a slow, shaky breath and sighed. He needed to calm down, no matter how humiliating he'd found that whole experience, it was all worth it if his plan worked. Grayson made his way back through his office door and walked over to his desk, not acknowledging Stan's questioning look in favor of putting on his headphones and turning on his computer.

Grayson held his breath as he activated a small program and listened.

"-icity. Tell Andy I don't pay him for his opinions, I pay for results! Have you discovered the sequence yet? ...Well, get to it then!"

Grayson grinned like a maniac and held down a victory laugh as he raised the volume on his headphones. It worked! The recording device had been a special invention of his own, completely inconspicuous and undetectable! Gutierrez would never find it! And now, he had a device continuously recording all his shady dealings right under his desk!

He was only able to access its recordings within the small wireless range the device held, so he could only listen to it when he was at work, of after downloading it and taking it home. Still! This was foolproof! You couldn't go wrong with good old blackmail. Soon, Gutierrez would let something juicy slip, and then Roddy was as good as gone!

So his chip plan had been a bust? He wasn't giving up until Roddy was gone and he had what was rightfully his!

"-hope you can give me better results tomorrow. Goodbye."

"You know what? I think this smile is ever more creepy than the one you had this morning."

Grayson jumped as Stan frowned at his gleeful expression. He stuck his tongue out at Stan who snorted at the childish act. After making sure the program was still recording, Matt took off his headphones and went back to work, a small smile still on his face. After all, things were looking up.

==================================================================================================

Roddy MacStew wasn't one who second guessed himself often. He often found himself not only being right 99% of the time, but having near 20/20 foresight when it came to important projects. He'd been promoted to head of the Pinnacle chips development for more than just his good looks!

Roddy sighed as he continued scrubbing through packages of code worriedly. That's what made this project so different, he supposed. He'd been surprised when he was first promoted. Not that he hadn't been gunning for the position, but so had a sizable portion of the staff at Apex. Everyone and their mother had wanted that position, and it had seemed that only one person was truly meant for it. It hadn't been him, it had been Matt Grayson.

Grayson was a genius, no doubt about it. That man had managed to climb the promotional ladder so quickly at Apex that some had rightly assumed that this promotion had been just one in many. It had been during that time that Roddy had been hitting his stride.

Grayson had spotted him from across the room at a staff meeting one day and in that moment, a beautiful rivalry was formed. It had started out small, with contests to see who could finish a project more quickly or efficiently. It had then moved onto bigger arguments over who could build a functioning robot during their lunch break. Roddy would admit that this period had been one of his favorites.

The rivalry had only ended when, out of the blue one day, he had found himself being called to Gutierrez's office and promoted to head of the Pinnacle chips development. After that, Grayson was scarce and more reserved in his presence. Roddy had tried to show him he was still open to banter, the man had all but closed off.

As Roddy took a swig of his bitter coffee, he couldn't help but yearn for the good ol days when he hadn't had to worry about things like career changing chip flaws or public opinion. He'd spent the rest of his day looking through near endless lines of code and data searching for any sign of a flaw or corruption in the chips code after talking with Grayson.

He'd at first been happy with how familiar the man had been with him, then in a near panic when Matt had displayed his concerns. It was now Tuesday, six am and he was still looking through everything for some sign of a mistake. Every time he'd come close to just letting his worries go, the guilt of the potential flaw residing just out of his reach kept him going.

"Just thirty seven more…"

Roddy slowed down as his eyes caught something odd. At first is didn't look out of place, but when he looked closer he realized what he saw did not belong.

"What are you…?"

Roddy started scanning over numbers and after a moment he went pale.

"Oh shit…"

Roddy, suddenly much more awake then he'd been a moment before, began bookmarking and scanning line after line of nefarious code intermingled within own. This was bad, very, very bad.

"But what...What are you doing to my chip…?"

MacStew opened another program and started running tests. He had to know what the potential damage to property and quality was, at the very least it would give him some idea what this weird code was going to do to-

*ZZZT-CRACK!*

"Whoa!"

MacStew jumped back as the program stuttered to a stop, monitor flickering one of the millions of test sequences the program had input.

"..." [=g3,8d]\&fbb=-q]/hk%fg"..."

*ZAP!*

Roddy gasped as his computer sparked and smoked, monitor beginning to flicker more violently. He felt a shiver of fear and ran out of his office just as a flash of blinding light erupted from the room.

"WHAT IN GOD'S GOOD NAME-?!"

The blinding light began to flicker once more before sputtering out, taking the power out of Roddy's office completely. MacStew was frozen in shock, unable to bring himself to re-enter his room after the violent incident.

"That...That's no flaw...That's-I don't know what, but that's no run-of-the-mill flaw!"

Roddy hesitated for a moment, then marched back into his office and retrieved the box of Pinnacle chips Gutierrez had given him. He was sure the chip inside his computer was fried at this point, and he needed to do more tests.

As he made his way to one of the computer rooms, Roddy found himself remembering the sequence that had flashed across the screen before exploding.

"What was it again? " [=g3,8d]\&fbb=-q]/hk%fg"?"

MacStew sat in front of one of the office computers and installed another Pinnacle chip into it quickly. He needed to see what exactly he'd brought about, and more importantly, how much damage it could cause.

Roddy cringed as he thought of all the staff he'd happily given chips over to, and all the people who'd paid extra for the promotional sale. He almost wanted to stop, just let the flaw stay hidden. But he couldn't. He had to do the right thing, at the very least so he could sleep at night.

As he started the computer up and started another testing program, Roddy cracked his knuckles. He had to do this for all those innocent people who had trusted him. His co-workers believed in him and he wasn't about to let them down!

"Alright then! Let's figure out exactly how ugly ya are!"

========================================================================================

"Aaachoo!"

Grayson sniffed pitifully, grumpily taking a tissue from Stan and blowing his nose. He'd gotten the flu Tuesday, and only been able to drag himself to work on Thursday out of sheer desperation to listen to the recordings he knew he was falling behind on.

"This is just sad. Go home GrayMatter. You look like death's ugly twin brother pestilence."

Grayson as too tired to be angry at Stan so he pouted instead, only making Stan even more worried. If Matt didn't even have the energy to sneer at him, he must be really sick.

"Don't-*Sniff!*-Don't call me that."

Stan smiled. At least he could still argue.

"What? Pestilence? It's not my fault your trying to infect the entire office."

"I didn't mean to sneeze on the coffee pot! They were overreacting when they tossed it into the garbage…"

"I'm surprised they didn't get out the hazmat...Listen, I get you wanna work on whatever it is you're currently obsessing over, but you should really go home. You're worrying me more than usual. You're gonna give me gray hairs man, c'mon!"

Grayson leaned away from Stans pleading in confusion for a moment, relaxing as he realized that Stan was actually concerned about him. He almost wanted to go home because of the display. It wouldn't be too bad if he took just one more day off, would it? Maybe he could just catch up on some of his recordings and then he'd go home.

"I- AAaaaachooo!-I just-*Sniff!*-have to do something first. I'll go home right after, I promise."

Dupp looked taken aback that his pleading had actually worked, then smiled warmly. If he didn't know any better, he'd say he was seeing a little sliver of his old friend in that grumpy husk. Stan got up and using another clean tissue, picked up Grayson's cup as well.

"You look like you could use some hot tea."

Grayson frowned in confusion, shifting to get up himself.

"I can-"

"Nope! I don't want Susan yelling at me cause I let you touch her tea bags. You stay here and finish whatever your so focused on."

Matt smiled in appreciation, turning to his computer and leaving a slightly bewildered Stan behind him. Dupp hasn't seen Matt smile like that since...Stan shook his head and went over to the office kitchen, a small hopeful smile on his face. Maybe he and Matt would be reconnecting after all.

Grayson opened his special program and started sifting through sound files. So far, there were five sound files comprised of twelve hour long segments. He groaned internally at the thought of listening to sixty hours of nothing but Gutierrez. His already had a headache from all the sneezing, he wouldn't survive it!

Matt opened the currently active recording, deciding to just listen in for a few minutes and then head home. He set his headphones onto his aching head carefully and pressed play.

"-uch! That vexing hoodlum will pay for this!"

Despite his head ache, Grayson turned up the volume in interest. Whatever had gotten Gutierrez so upset was worth learning about.

"-derstand sir. You seem to have some traumatic iritis, orbital wall fracture, and eight ball fracture. You're lucky you got treatment so quickly sir, you could have lost your eye."

"I do not want people seeing me like this. Can you offer me some less conspicuous bandages?"

"I'm sorry sir, but I need to stress how urgently you need these bandages. I can give you an eye patch that will cover the bruised and bandaged area, if that helps."

"...Fine. Is there anything else I should know about my injuries?"

"Just keep those bandages on, try and avoid any contact if possible. Your eye in in a very precarious state right now. If anything were to happen, you would need intensive surgery to save it, and even then you might not be able-"

"Alright! That's enough. I understand doctor, thank you. You may leave, I have some...business to attend to."

"It won't put stress on your eye, right?"

The sound of Gutierrez sighing left a satisfying clump if audio static on the recording program on Grayson's screen.

"Yes doctor. I will be sitting all day."

"Good. Call me in if you have any problems or questions, okay?"

"Of course…"

Grayson listened as the sound of shuffling feet and closing doors were heard, then after a momentary silence, the distinct sound of a dial tone.

"Gravity? Yes, I'm fine. That blue menace managed to almost make me lose an eye though... No, I don't think we should...He's not alone Gravity, we need to be smart...Exactly...Yes, we need more time to prepare before we try and capture him again. Hopefully, after you learn more about that Pinnacle chip."

Grayson was so shocked he didn't even notice Stan setting down a hot cup of tea on his desk, amused at his expression. Stan didn't bother getting Matt's attention, simply pushing the tea into his co-workers hand and waiting till he took a slow sip of the hot beverage.

"-sequence yet? Well at this point I don't even know if I want it...Well, you did not see him! He was insane. If we're going to extract that chips abilities, I want to make some major adjustments. I refuse to end up like that maniac, Freakazoid."

At this point, Grayson had taken out a notebook and was scribbling down notes like his life depended on it. Some of his more interesting notes read, "Freakazoid? Insult, or?" and "The Pinnacle chip's abilities?".

"-in my office, yes...Well, that's up to you, my friend. When I do capture him, because I will, you can run any tests your little heart desires."

Matt froze at that. In his office? Did that mean his device had picked up on-

"Oh my gosh!"

Stan frowned as Grayson almost knocked his tea off his desk in his excitement. Matt went back and opened the audio files from Wednesday, excitement bubbling in his stomach. Or maybe it was nausea? He really needed to go home.

Matt opened the audio file and skipped past long silences until the audio spikes started up. Then he listened to Wednesday's episode.

Due to lack of interest, please go reread chapter one through three for a rough approximation of what Matt Grayson is hearing.

Grayson had stopped taking notes a few minutes in, something akin to shock and wonder taking over as the miraculous events unfolded. It didn't sound real, in all honesty. It was like someone took the audio from some silly cartoon voiced by his co-workers. He had only taken one note, but in his opinion, it was the only one he needed.

"-can hit me all you want Gutierrez, I'm not telling you the sequence!"

"Is that so? Then, how do you feel about me hitting someone else?"

"Who- You leave Dexter alone!...Wait...Who's-"

"AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHGH!"

"STOP!"

"Hm? Are you feeling more talkative? Tell me the sequence Roddy, and I promise I'll let the boy go."

"...Fine…. It's " [=g3,8d]\&fbb=-q]/hk%fg"."

"..."

"...What?"

"How on earth did you say that out loud?"

"Jus' give me a pen."

Grayson had written down the strange sequence, unsure as to what it did, but positive it was vital. Why else would Gutierrez torture MacStew for it? Speaking of MacStew, he'd been so sick he hadn't even realized he hadn't seen hide or hare of the man all day. Had Gutierrez really fired him while he'd been gone?

"Hey. I thought you said you were heading home? You've finished all your tea GrayMatter"

"...Stan?"

Stan sat up at his name being spoken. Matt almost never called him by his first name anymore.

"What's up?"

"Where is Mr. MacStew?"

Dupp frowned at the mention of Roddy. He was fine with but Matt became a wreck when it came to him, and despite being super sick, this was the most sensible Grayson had been in a while. He'd rather not deal with a raving mad Matt Grayson while he was still spewing germs like a kindergarten flu outbreak.

"Why? Aren't you happy he's not around right now?"

"Where is he though? I haven't-*Sniff!*-seen him all day."

"He hasn't been around for a few days now. I just assumed he was busy." Stan shrugged

Matt grew quiet as he connected the dots and came to a disturbing conclusion.

"It worked…"

Despite everything, the chips strange abilities, Freakazoid and Dexter Douglas, Gutierrez, despite it all, he'd finally gotten rid of Roddy MacStew!

"What? What worked?" Stan inquired as Matt suddenly stumbled to his feet.

Grayson turned to Dupp and just shook his head.

"I have to go...home. I'll-*Sniff*-see you tomorrow."

Stan frowned at Matt's strange behavior, standing to give Grayson a pat on the shoulder.

"Well, okay then. Take care of yourself GrayMatter."

Grayson simply nodded and shuffled to the office door quickly. Dupp tried to rid himself of the nagging feeling of something being horribly wrong. Matt was a weird guy, so maybe he just needed a good night's rest to get himself back together.

'He never lets me call him GrayMatter.." Stan thought, sighing as he forced himself to sit down before he did something stupid, like run after his frie-former best friend. Matt was fine, just sick. He'd be back tomorrow like nothing had even happened in the first place.

Dupp bit his lip, sorely tempted to open up Matt's computer and find out whatever it was he had been listening to. Grayson would find out he'd snooped, no question. Stan busied himself with menial work and silently cursed Grayson and himself.

"I really am gonna get gray hairs at this rate…"

=====================================================================================

Matt Grayson had been in a daze the entire drive home, driving in a manner reminiscent of a drunk, blind, ninety year old dog instead of a mildly ill thirty five year old man. Had he been in his right mind, he would have been horribly embarrassed at all the angry honks he got. Thankfully, Matt had more pressing matters on his mind, so he was functionally deaf when it came to frustrated car horns and the sound of his landlord yelling at him for using too much electricity.

Matt pushed past his entry way and hurried to his room, immediately tossing aside clothing from his laundry basket until he found what he was looking for.

"Aha! There you are…"

Grayson pulled out his coat from the pile and grabbed the Pinnacle chip out from the pocket. He felt foolish for forgetting it now, but when he'd first gotten it, he'd assumed that this chip would be discontinued.

Grayson made his way over to his computer desk and sat down, setting the chip next him as he started up his programs. He needed to use this opportunity while it was still fresh in his mind. From what he heard, this chip was capable of making the impossible, possible! Grayson opened a special file of discarded inventions, ones either too expensive or to impossible to bring to reality. Matt looked over to his chip and smiled. Impossible for now at least.

As he skimmed over schematics, his eye caught one of his old favorites. It was his old transference machine! He'd always wanted things he knew he'd never have, mentally and physically. His transference machine had been his hypothetical solution. A device that could transfer intelligence and strength, in equal measure. Of course, it was all hypothetical. The power needed for such a device was impossible to generate.

"Impossible...Such a funny word, isn't it?" Matt mumbled happily, downloading the file into one for his programs. This chip would be the catalyst for a new era of technology, and Matt Grayson would be damned if he wasn't going to be at the forefront of that!

=====================================================================================================

Stan Dupp paced around the office coffee machine, brows creased in worry.

On one hand, he wanted nothing more than for Matt to take another day off work and finally give himself some much needed rest. On the other hand, that wasn't like Matt at all and the fact that Matt was late was very worrying. Grayson would go through thick and thin to get to work and Stan was pretty he'd seen him come to work with a broken foot before. The hospital staff had been pretty mad about that. Apparently, he'd escaped right after surgery and they had spent the whole day calling the office and demanding he come back for stitches.

"Now I'm just making myself more worried! Jeez GrayMatter, why can't you be normal for once?"

Stan sighed and finally poured himself a cup of coffee, adding three sugars and a cream and making his way back to his desk. He wasn't getting paid to mother over his friend after all.

As Stan used his free hand to pull out his desk chair, his phones suddenly buzzed, startling Stan into almost dropping his coffee. He set his mug down quickly and pulled his phone out of his pocket, then pressed answer.

"Stan Dupp, who's this?"

"Stan? It's me. Can you-AAaaaChooo!-come over?"

Stan pulled the phone away from his ear at the loud sneeze, frowning in concern at how congested Grayson sounded.

"Uh, I- Yeah. Do need me to bring you some soup or something? You sound- Well you don't sound good."

"No, no, you do-*Sniff*- don't have to go to the trouble. I just need a little help with something."

Stan pulled on his coat and pushed his desk chair in as he made his way to the office door. Matt never asked for help, so that fact he was was enough for Stan to cut work and head over without hesitation.

"You still in that four story complex next to the Library?" Stan asked as he made his way down the hall to the Apex Tower entrance. He idly patted his coat pockets to make sure he still had his keys, feeling slight relief as he felt the familiar bulge of his Goodbye Tabby key chain.

"Yes I-*Sniff*- I'm still in room two seventeen. Thank you Stan, I hate to be a burden-"

"Don't be stupid GrayMatter, you're sick, it's part of the job description." Stan joked, unlocking his car and sliding into the driver's seat. "You hang tight, I'll be over in five minutes, ten tops."

"Alright...See you soon."

"See ya!" Stan hung up and stowed his phone in his pocket, then started his car. As Stan drove to Grayson's apartment, he shifted anxiously in his seat.

Matt Grayson had many faults, but the one that grated Stans nerves the most was his stubbornness. He never wanted constructive criticism, never compromised, always had to have the last word, and God forbid you ever try to help him in any way! Stan had had some of his worst fights with Matt over his hard headed attitude, and it had been Matt's stubborn ways that had ultimately ended their close bond.

If Stan was being honest, he'd even came to admire Grayson's determination, despite it's aggravating side effects. Stan wasn't a very imposing person, nor was he overly friendly. He was an average, sarcastic underachiever with a smart mouth and nothing to back it up. That's why he'd wanted to be Matt's friend when they first met.

Matt was smart, determined, hardworking, and when you got close enough, he could be really fun. While Stan wanted nothing more than to blame Grayson for their broken friendship, he knew he was half to blame. He hated to admit it, but Matt had been right when he'd said he was holding him back.

Stan slowed as he caught sight of a familiar drive through, then turned left and went to order. He missed Matt, if he was being totally honest. They weren't exactly close anymore, but when they had been, they'd both been a lot happier. Maybe this was the turning point?

"Will that be all sir?"

Stan pulled out a twenty and nodded. "Yeah. Oh! Can I get some saltines too?" He pulled the bucket into his car window and set it on the passenger's seat next to him.

"Here you go sir. Have a nice day!" The cashier said, handing him a handful of saltine cracker packets and flashing him their best customer service smile.

"Will do." Stan said. He stuffed the saltine into his coat pockets and after a moment of thought, put a seat belt around the bucket.

"Safety first!" Stan said a he pulled out of the drive though.

================================================================================================

It had taken him less time than usual to finish his device, but that may have had something to do with the fact that he'd been falling in and out of consciousness so often he'd felt like he was in a montage. Also the fact that half his parts were stolen Apex supplies and his main power source was a yet untested piece of scientific sorcery.

"AAAaaaachoo!...Oogh…" Grayson groaned, slumping onto his bed and rubbing his eyes in exhaustion. He seriously needed to sleep. His head was pounding like his landlord when rent was late, and he only seemed to be getting sicker.

He looked down to the finished device laying in his lap. It was a fairly simple design, and looked kind of like a glue gun who's cord was a wrist attachment instead of a plug. Theoretically, the Pinnacle chips flaw would be irritated from within, and the resulting power surge would power his invention. Intellect or strength could be selected with a small switch, while another would delegate if the effects would be temporary, or permanent.

"Now-Sniff*-I just need to test it…" Grayson sighed, falling back onto his bed and staring into space. He'd been hoping to be functional by now, and had been planning on going to Apex and using his invention on Gutierrez. In his current state, he couldn't even walk a few feet without getting dizzy, much less go to work and steal his bosses intelligence.

"If I could just stop being so uselessly ill-"

Grayson shot up so quickly he saw stars. That was it! He could just steal a healthy person's strength, and therefore, their health, and he'd be as right as rain!

"But who? I can't have anyone who would have reason to be suspicious of me, or someone who could fight back. At least now while I'm in this state…" Matt tapped his chin for a few moments, then smiled as a beautiful thought stuck him.

"I'm sure Dupp wouldn't mind if I asked him for a...favor." Grayson took out his phone and scrolled through his contacts until he found the name he was looking for. He frowned at the picture of him and Stan doing Blue Steels at the camera, then pushed call.

"Stan Dupp, who's this?"

"Stan? It's me. Can you-AAaaaChooo!-come over?" Grayson asked, silently upset at how pathetic he sounded.

"Uh, I- Yeah. Do need me to bring you some soup or something? You sound- Well you don't sound good."

"No, no, you do-*Sniff*- don't have to go to the trouble. I just need a little help with something." Grayson said as he looked around his apartment for a tissue.

"You still in that four story complex next to the Library?" Stan asked.

"Yes I-*Sniff*- I'm still in room two seventeen. Thank you Stan, I hate to be a burden-"

"Don't be stupid GrayMatter, you're sick, it's part of the job description." Stan interrupted good naturedly. "You hang tight, I'll be over in five minutes, ten tops."

"Alright...See you soon." Grayson agreed, grimacing as he realized the state of his apartment was less than optimal for visitors. His place looked like a tornado came through a goodwill.

"See ya!" Stan hung up.

"Shouldn't have thrown my clothes on the floor…" Matt mumbled as he hastily picked up his clothes and tossed them into his laundry bin. He looked around once again, then decided to hide his tools and not-very-legal machine parts.

Matt let out some strange combination of a groan and a sigh as he finally melted into his bed. He just needed to wait for Stan, and then he'd finally be well again. Stan had always had a better immune system then him, maybe after this, he'd never get sick again!

Grayson pulled the device-He should name it shouldn't he? Well, it's function was too complicated to really make into an acronym, and even simplified, its ability to scatter particles and reassemble them into a new host…

"It splatters matter….Matter Splatter?…." It would have to do for now. He looked over the settings on the Matter Splatter and switched them to strength/permanent. Just as Matt pulled his blanket over his device, he heard a familiar knock on the door.

"The key is u-Aachooo!-i-it's under the mat!"

"I know! Just didn't want you yelling at me cause I didn't knock…" Stan said. He strolled into Grayson's room one hand behind his back and a friendly smile on his face.

"So? How're you feeling? Cause you sounded-"

"Awful. I know. What do you have there?" Grayson craned his neck as much as he could from his bed suspiciously. Did Stan know?

"Oh, this? Well…" Stan pulled out a familiar bucket and held it up awkwardly.

"I just thought, well, you said your favorite soup was knoephla so…"

Matt deflated at the sight of the soup. That was his favorite. He bit the inside of his cheek and discreetly shifted the Matter Splatter away from Stan.

"You- I told you you didn't have to."

Stan shrugged off his nervousness and sat on the foot of Matt's bed. "I wanted to. You probably forgot to eat, and I'd rather not have to deal with a hangry GrayMatter. You're not you when you're hungry."

Stan took out a plastic spoon and handed Grayson the warm soup bucket. Matt took the bucket and peeled off the lid, smiling softly at the comforting aroma. Grayson took a bite and smiled to Stan in appreciation. He wanted to be angry, but Stan was right, he'd completely forgotten to eat anything when he'd gotten home.

"So, what was it you called me over for? Must be important, seeing as you never ask me for anything." Stan asked, pulling out some saltine cracker packets from his pocket and handing them to Matt.

Grayson swallowed, fiddling with his Matter Splatter under the blanket indecisively, then shoving it aside. "I...I guess I just wanted to talk. Things have been a bit strange recently…"

Stan nodded sympathetically, scooting a little closer to Grayson. "Yeah, I've been getting that vibe too. I mean, 's gone, has this weird new eye patch, and one of the computer rooms is under construction for some reason! Lotta change with no context to help it go down."

Stan looked over to Matt meaningfully and sighed. "Also...I've been thinking about us too. You know, the usual stuff. Why don't you have any desk toys, why you're always spilling your coffee-"

"I don't!-*Sniff*-do it on purpose!"

Stan chuckled as Matt pouted and shoved some more soup into his mouth.

"Heh, yeah. I know you don't...I guess what I'm trying to say is, I miss being your friend."

Matt paled, swallowing down his soup heavily. He shifted around the uncomfortable feeling of his Matter Splatter poking his leg.

"I- I uh-"

"Hey, don't have a cow man! You don't have to answer or anything GrayMatter. I just wanted to put it out there, food for thought and all that." Stan smiled awkwardly as he leaned back.

Matt's feelings churned within him painfully. How could he steal Stans strength now that he was- And all the nice gestures like his favorite soup- And now he was being all awkward and sincere! Grayson took a deep breath, which was hard to do with a stuffy nose, and cleared his thoughts. He wasn't going to back out now.

"Stan...Can you put the soup in my fridge? I think I want to save the rest for later." Matt asked as he put the lid back on his soup and handed it back to Stan.

Stan nodded and left the room. Grayson quickly pulled out his Matter Splatter and made sure everything was in place. He hesitated on the switch marking the effects as permanent. He pursed his lips, then switched it to temporary. He didn't need to take Stan's strength forever just to get rid of some silly flu. And if it wore off too quickly, he could just steal from someone else, someone stronger, someone worth stealing from permanently.

"So I just saw how empty your fridge is, and I just gotta say- Wh-What is-?"

"Sorry Stan."

*ZAAAP!*

=========================================================================================================

Everything was dark. Stan Dupp fell in and out of consciousness, first reawakening in his car, then in his bed. When Stan Dupp finally regained a steady foothold on the waking world, he was met with a somewhat unsettling sight.

"GrayMatter?...Why are you...in my house?"

"Sorry Stan, but I couldn't just leave you on my floor. I thought you might like it here better."

Stan tried to sit up, but his body wasn't responding. It was like all his limbs suddenly felt ten times heavier. He realized he was in his bed, and the lights weren't on for some reason.

"You best not try to move Stan, you might hurt yourself."

Stan weakly turned his head so he could look at Matt directly. Grayson looked...healthy. Considering how utterly miserable he'd looked before, and the sudden surge of memories filling his head, Stan connected the dots quickly.

"What did you do?!" Stan growled. He struggled to sit up, and he managed to push himself up a few inches before his arms gave out like wet noodles.

"Calm down Stan, it's not permanent."

"Calm do-How did you even do this?!"

Grayson pulled out what looked like a fancy glue gun and smiled.

"It's my latest invention, the Matter Splatter. It can transfer the strength and intellect of one person into another! Quite the feat, no?"

Stan glared and tried to sit up again. "NO! Undo it! Wait, is that why you look not-sick?"

Grayson nodded and took a step forward, looming ominously over Stan's weakened form.

"Precisely. With this device, I can become the strongest, smartest man on earth! Don't worry Stan, what I took from you will probably return to you in a week at most."

Stan opened and close his mouth uselessly. This was insane! Matt was acting like some kind of power hungry mad scientist. Stan thought over the week leading to this crazy turn of events and tried to find some kind of reason. Grayson had to have had some kind of reason or-

"Gutierrez."

Grayson stiffened.

"Please tell me you aren't doing this...because of the promotion." Stan panted. He was feeling concernedly tired from just talking, but that wasn't gonna stop him. He needed to know why.

"...Is it really that obvious? How embarrassing…"

"Please, please, please, please...don't be stupid Graymatter…" Stan pleaded, desperately struggling to sit up.

"Stay home Stan, you'll be safe here, especially with your immune system so compromised." Matt said, turning away from Stan and walking towards Stan's bedroom door.

"You did this!...Just...Please Matt…Don't do whatever it is you're planning..." Stan slumped into his sheets, and closed his eyes. He couldn't take seeing Matt walk away and leaving him here.

Grayson stopped at the door, his hand gripped firmly on the handle. After a full minute of quiet, Matt broke the silence.

"...Are we friends anymore? I know we haven't been very close, because of me I suppose...Could we be?"

Stan let out a sigh of relief, smiling on reflex. "Yes! Yes, we're friends GrayMatter, even if we're not...Always the best ones…"

Matt turned to face Stan and Stan faltered. He knew that look. He'd seen that look before, and it never meant anything good. He wasn't going to stop, whatever it was he was going to do, he wouldn't let anything stop him. Not even Stan.

"...I don't-I don't know how to stop you…"

"You can't. I have to do this. I'm tired Stan. I just want-..." Matt rubbed his face in a manner that would betray exhaustion had it been any other man. This one was hopped up on the strength of two people.

"...Stay home Stan. As your friend, I say this with the best intentions."

Stan clenched his jaw, mind desperately trying to puzzle some solution that didn't end with his friend in jail or dead. He wasn't coming up with much. "You really can't be happy without this?"

Grayson shook his head. "I have to try. Even if I fail, I'll have tried"

Stan groaned and slammed his head back in frustration."...Let's hope you fail then."

Matt gave him an unimpressed look. Stan smiled, happy in the knowledge that at the very least, he could annoy Matt til the very end. It was all he was good for, might as well use it.

"You're kind of like a super villain...right now, you know that? Evil weapon...revenge scheme? What's your villain name gonna be?"

Grayson tried to hide his smile as he rolled his eyes. "You're the worst best friend ever."

"Right back at you...Pestilence. Oh wait, you don't like me...calling you that, right GrayMatter?"

"...You know I hate that nickname…"

Stan grinned knowingly."It's not my fault...you're such a know it all."

"...GrayMatter it is."

Dupp spluttered for a moment, surprised that Matt was even entertaining the idea."What?! Seriously? Well, I mean...it fits. Are you sure you wanna...go with that one? What about Brainiac? Nerdvana? _The Lobe?"_

"Goodbye Stan." Grayson droned, walking away from Stan's bed to the bedroom door once more.

"I really liked that last one!"

"Goodbye!"

"I hope you fail!"

"I'm closing the door!"

"Ten to one...some kid in cosplay stops you!"

***SLAM!***


	7. Freakazoid’s Day Off!

Dexter looked around his science classroom and frowned. Why was he the only one here? He pulled his sleeve back and looked at his watch, brows creased in confusion as the numbers flickered and swirled around.

“What…?”

“You can’t read clocks in dreams Dextime! If you really wanna know, it’s like, ten in the waking world.”

Dexter jumped, looking around his seemingly empty classroom for the source of the familiar voice. Where had he heard that voice before…?

“You already forgot me? RUDE!”

A loud smack resounded from the whiteboard in the front of the room, making Dexter stand in shock as it cracked. Another heavy pounding sound, and the whiteboard shattered.

“Wow! Our brain’s got some pretty sturdy walls! Not thick enough to keep me out though. _Ha HA!_ ” Freakazoid gloated, eagerly climbing out from the hole he’d created in the whiteboard.

“Freakazoid?….Wait! I’m dreaming? Why are you in my dream?!”

Freakazoid dusted himself off and looked around Dexter’s science classroom with a vague air of disinterest. 

“Well, it’s technically both our dream. Our brain is just being mean and trying to get rid of me. **NICE TRY, YOU SAD SACK OF THINK SAUCE!** ” Freakazoid yelled at the ceiling, shaking his fist like a foiled villain.

Dexter walked over to Freakazoid, ogling the other teen in a strange mix of awe and confusion. He’d never actually seen Freakazoid like this, face to face. It honestly unnerved him. Not the differences, those were fine, preferable even. What unnerved Dexter was the similarities. 

Sure, Freakazoid had big black hair like a Frankenstein’s monster wannabe, he was blue and way more physically fit then Dexter had ever even dreamed he’d be, but he was still him. Freakazoid had his face! Yeah, it was wearing an expression he’d never be caught dead with, with wide eyes and a wider smile, but it was his face! Dexter looked down at Freakazoids outfit and frowned. He was sure he’d thrown those out the day after his mom had bought them!

“Long Johns. _Really?_ ” Dexter said, gesturing to the bright red eyesore tiredly. 

Freakazoid crossed his arms and turned his nose up in offense.

“ _You_ see long Johns, _I_ see cotton chainmail.” He explained, posing in the outfit dramatically and flexing.

Freakazoid was proudly wearing his old long johns, and the contrast in how the embarrassing piece of clothing looked on either of them was kinda annoying. Why did the crazy part of him get the muscles? How was that fair?! He bit the inside of his cheek to stop himself from voicing his thoughts and shook his head. He needed no focus! Hadn’t Freakazoid been talking about their brain?

Dexter looked at the ceiling for a moment for some sign of another presence, but when he realized Freakazoid had just been being- well, Freakazoid, he crossed his arms and frowned.

“Why did I forget you? I couldn’t remember you for a minute there…” Dexter asked, looking around the classroom critically.

Freakazoid shrugged. “I think our brain thought I was some kind of invasive…. _whatever_. I don’t really know. All I know is, I’m not going anywhere.”

Dexter walked over to the gaping hole in the chalkboard. He inspected the hole, but he couldn’t see anything inside but a pitch black void.

“Where did you even _come_ from?” Dexter said, putting his hand into the hole and quickly pulling it out. 

Freakazoid stood next to Dexter and smiled. “You wanna see? I can promise it’s _way_ cooler than this snooze fest!” He promised. Before Dexter could respond, Freakazoid grabbed a fistfull of his collar and shoved him roughly into the void.

“ _ **W-WAAAIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIT!**_ ” Dexter screamed as he fell into nothingness.

He closed his eyes in fear of the inevitably approaching floor, but after a full minute of nothing, he finally cracked open an eye. Dexter looked around the void of nothing, eyes landing on an equally immobile Freakazoid.

“W-What’s happening right now? Why aren’t we falling?” Dexter stuttered, still shaken by his earlier scare.

“Well, I was gonna have us land at _some_ point, but you scared the ground away!” Freakazoid huffed, crossing his arms as he floated into an upside down position.

**“That doesn't make any sense!”** Dexter shouted, flailing his arms to stay in a somewhat upright position.

“It's our brain, it doesn't have to! At least, it didn’t until _you_ came here.” Freakazoid grumbled.

“So how do we land? How do I unscare the ground or something?!” Dexter fretted, kicking his legs in vain as he slowly spun in midair.

“Weeeeeell, it’s only scared cause you are. It’s our brain remember? It can’t hurt us, you can’t hurt it!” Freakazoid advised as he read over a magazine he’d pulled out of the nothingness. Dexter spluttered for a moment, then took in a shaky breath to calm his nerves.

Freakazoid was still as confusing as he’d been when they were awake, but he probably didn’t mean to be. He’d thrown Dexter into this void because he'd expected it to take them somewhere. For some reason, they weren’t landing because of him. But why?

Freakazoid had somehow manifested hair rollers and was now painting his nails a sparkly pink, all while sitting midair in a fancy red bath robe. Dexter decided to forgo questioning where he got all the random objects and got to the point.

“Hey Freak!” He shouted, smiling as Freakazoid startled and messed up his nails. Instead of getting upset, he spun midair and somehow managed to make all the random items vanish. Back in an upside down position, he smiled at Dexter.

“That’s me! What’s up? Other than us, I mean.”

“If I stop being scared of landing, will we land?” He asked, looking down in some vain attempt to see some kind of floor.

Freakazoid smiled wider and nodded. “You got it! Kinda obvious really, what took you so long?”

Dexter gave Freakazoid an unimpressed look. “Well, you throwing me into a void hole didn't help. Of course I got scared! Next time, a little warning would be nice!” 

Not bothering to wait for a response, Dexter closed his eyes and thought of the ground. He wanted to land. Landing would be ten times more enjoyable than floating in nothingness. _Land, land, LAND!_

“You can open your eyes now Dexter. C’mon and look around!” Freakazoid said enthusiastically.

Dexter cracked an eye open and gaped. He was in his living room! Or...No. Wait. This wasn’t his living room. It looked too different. Dexter relaxed his body and opened both eyes hesitantly. He hadn’t realized how tense he’d been until he’d unclenched his fists and lowered his shoulders from his ears.

“I’m calling this place, _The Freakazone!_ Pretty cool right?!” Freakazoid said proudly, jumping onto the couch and pulling out a TV remote.

“Where is this?” Dexter inquired, walking over to the couch and sitting down on the soft cushions. It was a nice couch. Now that Dexter was really looking around, other than the TV, it seemed to be the only things in the room, if that’s what you could call it. There didn’t seem to be any walls, just light that faded to black nothing.

“Somewhere in our brain. I don’t really give a flying fart where. Hey! Wanna watch Rat Patrol with me?”

Dexter scoffed, looking over to the TV as Freakazoid pressed the remote and the screen flickered to life.

“That show Grandpa always made us watch? Why is _that_ here?” Dexter said skeptically, even as Troy, Moffitt, Hitch and Tully flickered across the screen, ready to raid and get laid.

“I thought we liked it! There was so much action and historical inaccuracies for us to point out!” Freakazoid enthused, pulling out a bowl of cheetos and handing it to Dexter.

Dexter smiled at the memory of watching reruns of Rat Patrol with his grandpa. His grandpa had insisted on watching them instead of cartoons, so to get back at him, Dexter had read up on WWII history and spent every moment of the show pointing out the historical impossibilities in it. His grandpa had taken it in stride, and eventually, Dexter had even started to enjoy it, in the same way a person liked watching bad horror movies.

“Nice flashback. I think you made grandpa look a little taller than he really was though.”

Dexter stumbled as he was abruptly transported to his grandfather's living room. Freakazoid didn’t seem bothered by the scene change, catching the bowl of cheetos that fell from Dexter’s lab and stuffing a handful into his mouth.

“Grandpa?!” Dexter balked as the old man appeared in his favorite chair, seemingly in the middle of watching Rat Patrol with a much smaller Dexter Douglas. It was a familiar scene, but as Dexter looked closer, he realized he could see through his grandpa and his younger self. It was like looking at a high definition projection.

“Just how small _were_ we? Like a little squirt of beans!” Freakazoid squealed, running over to the tiny Dexter and trying to pick him up, only to phase through the memory like a wisp of smoke. 

“ _Awwww!_ No fair!” Freakazoid wined, couching down at eye level with mini Dexter and batting childishly at the apparition, his hands falling through every time.

“Leave younger me alone Freak. Now how do I go back to-What did you call it?”

“The Freakazone!” Freakazoid offered happily, standing back up and walking through the memory Dexter to stand next to Dexter again.

“Wait. Do I just _will_ it to happen like the landing thing?” 

Freakazoid nodded just as Dexter closed his eyes and-

“AAaaaaand, we’re back!” Freakazoid cheered, plopping down onto the couch and turning on Rat Patrol again.

Dexter slumped into the couch and sighed, closing his eyes as he reached over and took a handful of cheetos from Freakazoids snack bowl. It had been cheetos, right? Or was it popcorn? Dexter looked into his hand and gasped. He was holding a handful of both popcorn _and_ cheetos.

“Didn’t-didn’t you have cheetos in that bowl? Or popcorn? Did you have both?!” Dexter babbled, looking over to Freakazoids snack bowl in worry.

“It’s whatever we think it should be! You keep forgetting we make the rules here. Everything can be anything we want!”

Dexter groaned and slumped further into the couch as he let the snacks fall through his fingers in despair.

“I just want everything to make sense. Can my brain do _that?_ ”

Freakazoid rolled his eyes and and stuffed some cheetos, _only cheetos,_ into his mouth.

“You know? Shome people would enjoy being in your situation!” Freakazoid swallowed and turned away from the TV to look at Dexter imploringly.

“C’mon Dextile! Just think of what you wanna do and we can do it! The extent of your imagination’s the limit!”

Dexter pouted back a Freakazoid for a moment, then turned away cautiously and thought. What did he want to do? If he could do anything here without repercussions, the sky really was the limit….

“I know!” Dexter burst out, standing up and turning around to face Freakazoid again.

“How do you make things?” Dexter asked eagerly.

Freakazoid jumped up from the couch, excited energy radiating off him. 

“You mean like this?” He said, pulling out a corn on the cob from out of nowhere. “I just think I should have it, and I do!”

Freakazoid started running in place, eyes darting around in excitement. “So what are we gonna do? C’mon Dexter, let's make some _mayhem_! Everyone knows one plus one equals _fun!_ ”

Dexter’s eager nodding slowed to a disapproving glare. “Freak, we’re not doing anything crazy. I just wanted to test something out.” 

Dexter ignored Freakazoids disappointed slouch and closed his eyes, imagining his bedroom desk with his computer, then his bed, and slowly spread out till he’d envisioned his entire bedroom.

“ _Ooohhh._ Is this all? We’re always in here though! In fact, we’re physically there right now. Just open your eyes and BAM! There we are.”

Dexter smiled and walked over to his desk, pulling out his chair and sitting down.

“You said before that you were connected to the Internet, right?” He asked, starting up his computer and typing in his password.

Freakazoid hopped onto Dexter’s bed and started jumping. “Yessiree!” Everything that ever was and currently is. Why?”

Dexter hesitated for a moment, then opened his browser and-

“It works! Or-This isn’t just a dream Internet connection, right?” 

Freakazoid jumped off the bed and walked over to Dexter’s computer, squinting at the screen critically for a few seconds.

“ _Noooope_ , that’s the Internet alright. Are you telling me you did all this so you could surf the net? We always do that!” Freakazoid began pacing in frustration as Dexter started to type quickly.

“Can’t you think of anything exciting? You know, something we can’t do just by opening our eyes and sitting up?” Freakazoid turned to glare at Dexter, arms akimbo as Dexter continued to type.

“I don’t know why I even bothered to pull you outta that dream. You probably woulda had more fun too.” 

Dexter turned away from his screen to look at Freakazoid curiously, fingers still typing rabidly as he did so. “What was with that dream anyway? The whole classroom was just empty.”

Freakazoid went back to Dexter’s bed and flopped onto it lazily.

“Well, I actually might have had something to do with that. Ya see, I was just hanging out in the Freakazone when I noticed your weird little dream sequence happening above my head. So I go and try to check it out when I see a group of dream people heading over to our science class!”

Dexter’s eyes widened in interest as a small version of the events materialized above Freakazoids head like a miniature flashback.

“And like, I realize that these guys not only don’t go to our science class, but they’re also the same guys who beat us up in the locker room! I might have gotten a little steamed when I saw them, so I beat them into brain mist and the rest is history!”

Dexter watched as a mini memory Freakazoid pounded a mini Jim and Rick into little puffs of smoke before the entire scene dissipated.

“Huh. From what I can tell, I definitely wouldn’t have enjoyed whatever that dream was gonna be anyway. So thanks, I guess.” Dexter gave Freakazoid an awkward smile, then turned back to his computer.

“I would have done it eventually. Either in here, or out in the real world. Maybe even both! Those jerks have it coming!” Freakazoid said, trying to balance a headstand on Dexter’s bed.

“Nu-uh! No fighting unless it’s self defense,. We've been over this.” Dexter admonished, somewhat distracted by whatever it was he was working on.

Freakazoid pouted and allowed himself to fall on his face into soft blankets and cat hair covered sheets. He slid off the bed and stood up grumpily, dragging himself over to Dexter and slumping on the back of his chair dramatically.

“I’m _boooored_. What are you doing anyway?”

Dexter smiled and leaned away from the screen a bit to show his work.

“I’m documenting everything that happened yesterday. General timestamps, names, locations, the works!”

Freakazoid slid off the back of the chair and onto the floor. “ _That’s_ what you’re doing? You have the entire Internet at your imaginary fingertips, the ability to make anything happen on a whim, and you do _work?_ ”

Dexter rolled his eyes at Freakazoids prone form on the floor and continued typing.

“Well, if I’m allowed to to anything, then I want to document everything that happened yesterday so I don’t forget. You said so yourself, my brain’s trying to make me forget stuff. I can’t run the risk of forgetting vital information when I wake up.”

Freakazoid pulled a yoga mat out from nothing, than sat up and started stretching.

“I guess, but isn’t our computer fried? When you wake up, you won’t be able to get to any of your stuff, so you’re kinda wasting your time there.”

Dexter’s typing slowed for a moment before starting back up again with a vengeance.

“I can get my computer fixed! And until then you have access, so when I wake up, you can just remind of everything I’ve written down.”

Freakazoid was attempting a headstand again when there was a sudden shift, rattling the entire room and sending the blue teen onto his back.

“What was that?! What’s happening?” Dexter stood and pulled Freakazoid up anxiously.

Freakazoid dusted off his Long Johns, looking around at the shaking room calmly and smiling.

“Looks like we’re waking up! Makes sense, we usually don’t sleep in this late. Check your phone when you get up, okay?”

Dexter stumbled as the shaking room began to literal rattle apart, ceiling walls crumbling away to reveal nothing beyond. Freakazoid seemed nonplussed, walking over to one of the larger holes in the wall and pulling it apart to get out. Dexter tried to follow him, but he lost his footing and fell to his knees.

“Wai-What? My phone? Why woul-”

Dexter gasped as he rolled over in his bed, accidentally rolling Mr.Chubbikins off his legs and onto the floor. The cat hissed at Dexter, then slunk over to his computer chair and jumped onto the seat.

“Sorry...Mr.Chubbikins…” Dexter yawned, rubbing his eyes and blindly reaching over to his nightstand for his glasses. What had he been dreaming about again? Whatever it was, he’d been pretty freaked out about it. As he put on his glasses, a familiar voice piped up from inside his head.

_‘You meanie. You woke Mr.Chubbikins up!’_

“...Freakazoid…Holy crap! Wait a second, I’m remembering!” 

_‘Good! I uploaded all that stuff you wrote into what I’m pretty sure is our memory. I was getting bored with the whole amnesia routine.’_

Dexter pulled off his blankets and stumbled over to his computer, then stopped when he remembered something else. Two things actually. First being, his computer was very broken, and the second being that he was supposed to check his phone.

Dexter went over to his nightstand and turned on his phone, sitting down as the startup screen popped up.

“Why am I checking my phone again?” He mumbled, still half asleep now that he was acclimating to his new memories. He’d never felt this tired before.

_‘You’re phone was off, so I couldn’t really tell, but you missed at least two calls. I thought that might be important.'_

“What, really?!” Dexter’s phone finally brightened with his wallpaper of him and Steff at an amusement park. He went to his phone app and looked for missed calls anxiously. What if it had been his mom? What if it was about Duncan. Was Duncan still okay?

_'No need to thank me or anything….'_

“Thank you! Now shush!” Dexter held the phone to his ear and listened.

**“You have-three-missed calls. *Beeeeeep*-Hello? Dexter, sweetie. Your father and I will be at the hospital till about midnight. We’re staying while your brother gets a few more check ups. There’s a twenty in the money box on your father’s desk for pizza, and if you don’t want that, you can eat the leftovers in the fridge. I love you honey, see you tomorrow!-End message.”**

Dexter smiled at his mom’s message and relaxed. It was fine, his brother was fine.

_‘You need to take a chill pill or something Dex-stressed. So? What do the other messages say?’_

Dexter rolled his eyes and pressed the other message. It was probably his mom again, maybe checking up on him.

**“-little snot nosed turd! Where the hell were you?! Running called my parents when no one showed up and then they caught me with the beer for the party! I’m grounded because of you! Where were you Dexter you fuc- End message.”**

Dexter felt the blood drain from his face. That had sounded like Jim and if Jim was calling him- 

“ _Crap, **crap! I-”**_

He’d totally forgot! After everything that’d happened yesterday-And the kidnapping, not to mention Freakazoid-!

_‘Don’t worry about it Dexter! I can take care of those guys, no problem! What’s the last message?’_

“You can't just beat up-You know what? Nevermind.” Dexter was too stressed out to remind Freakazoid for the fourth time what the rules were. He pressed the last message and held his breath. With how today was going already, he didn’t know what to expect.

**“Hey. You know who this. I’m only gonna say this once. You meet me at the back of the school and we settle this now, or I make it ten times worse when you come to school after Christmas break. Meet me in two hours.-End message.”**

“....Well, that was very… _adjective_ …” Dexter groaned, falling back onto his bed and throwing an arm over his eyes. He’d just woken up! 

_‘Let’s go! You have me now Dexter, I can destroy those guys! I already know you want to let me do it!’_

“No Freak. You can’t just beat people up. I can’t keep telling you this. It’s just, not, right.”

_‘What about a left? They’ll never see **that** coming! Now then, how to drive the message home? A broken bone is persuasive, but a **scar** is forever…_ ’

Dexter sat up and tried to keep how obviously unnerved he was out of his voice. “Are you hearing yourself? You sound like a crazy person. I’m not letting you out if you’re gonna break the rules. There’s like, only _three_ rules!”

_‘Are **you** hearing yourself? Cause you sound like you’re talking to yourself. Maybe you should get that checked out.’_

“Stop trying to change the subject! Why are you so obsessed with hurting people? You’re like, ninety percent random jokes, and then on the flip of a dime your calling for blood.”

Dexter waited for a response for a full minute, but when he was only met with silence, he sighed and got up to get dressed. After he finished getting dressed, Dexter decided he needed to address the messages from Jim. With Freakazoid being weirdly quiet, it was almost like he was alone in his head again. The perfect opportunity to think without interruptions.

So! Jim wanted to meet him behind the school in-Dexter checked his phone and saw that he’d received the message an hour and a half ago. Good. He still needed time to think it all over, and if need be, to walk there. Jim wanted to meet him behind the school and “talk”, or, if Dexter decided not to go, he would deal out an even worse punishment after Christmas break, when he’d have no choice but to go to school.

“Damned if I do, damned if I don’t…” Dexter mumbled, pacing as he thought the sour deal over.

He wasn’t supposed to win, he knew that. Jim was basically telling him he was giving him the opportunity to enjoy his break with a clear mind and a possibly bruised torso, or he could wait it out and stress over future beatings till the fateful day came. Dexter honestly wanted to wait it out.

“But if I do, who knows what Jim’ll do to me? If I give him time to plan something out, it won’t be good…” 

Dexter looked back at his phone and scrolled through his contacts. He stopped at Cosgroves and was sorely tempted to call him. If he brang Cosgrove, even Jim wouldn’t risk trying anything on him. But wouldn’t that just make Jim more angry? He’d just try something when Cosgrove wasn’t around, probably after Christmas break. Jim wouldn’t be stopped till he got what he wanted.

“He's not some lackey you can just call Dexter, he has a job. This isn’t that important.” Dexter scowled at himself and exited out of his contacts. 

He couldn’t ask his family, they were busy with Duncan at the hospital. He couldn’t ask Cosgrove because he was probably busy doing important stuff like saving lives of stopping bank robbers. He couldn’t ask any teachers because it was Christmas break and they never helped anyway. He couldn’t ask anyone!

“I should’ve set an alarm or something! If I had just gone to the school and covered for him-!”

Dexter paced over to his bedroom wall and knocked his forehead against the wall in frustration. He didn't want to get beat up. He really, _really_ didn't want to get beat up.

Dexter instinctively gripped his left wrist and winced. The last time he'd been beat up, he'd been ganged up on by a whole group of kids in the bathroom. He hadn't even known what was happening till one of the kids threw the first punch. When they were done with him, his wrist had been broken and his glasses had been twisted beyond repair. He could still remember the way his parents had yelled at him for being reckless and breaking his glasses again and-

_‘We didn’t deserve that. We’re tired of letting people hurt us for no good reason. We want it to **stop!** **You** want it to stop! **I** want it to stop! **Let me make it stop!** ’_

__

Dexter blinked back tears he hadn’t realized were starting to form and let out a shaky sigh. Freakazoid was right, but not in all the right ways.

“We can’t fix things just by punching them…”

_‘But-’_

“-You’re right about us not deserving this.”

Dexter took a deep breath. “I think we should work together. I’m not gonna let you break the rules but...I have the feeling that self defense is gonna apply. You with me?”

Dexter smiled at the feeling of something shifting in excitement inside his head.

_‘Yes! I'm totally ready to deal out some morally righteous violence! You promise you’ll let me help?’_

Dexter nodded, pulling away from the wall and putting his phone in his pocket as he headed for the door to his bedroom. He paused to inspect the damage Freakazoid had done to his door knob and pursed his lips. He was still worried about the kind of damage Freak could do to Jim if he wasn’t careful. Freakazoid didn’t seem too concerned with being careful when it came to Jim. He’d seen what Freakazoid could do from the mini memory reenactment Freak had shown him in his dream.

_‘I’ll be careful! You’ll be there too, so you can tell me if I go too far, right? Let's go already!’_

“Okay. Right, yeah…” Dexter nodded to himself again and headed downstairs and out the front door, making sure to lock it behind him. He’d rather not have any more strangers breaking into his house anytime soon. 

As Dexter steadily made his way to his school, he couldn’t help but be filled with an odd mixture of anxiety and relief. He was still super nervous about meeting Jim, his punches were no joke! But at the same time he was relieved. He’d felt so alone, thinking over strategies and remembering his past experience being bullied. 

Now? Against all odds, he actually felt comforted knowing Freakazoid would be there too. Inside his head, sure, but he wouldn’t be alone. Despite his wishy washy behavior, Freak was actually pretty reliable when it came to the things that mattered to both of them.

_'And don’t you forget it!’_

Dexter laughed and picked up the pace, feeling for the first time that the alien weight in his head was a comforting one  
============================================================================================================================================

“You’re late.”

Dexter gulped and took an instinctive step back. He’d been expecting Jim to come but-

_'Well, he never said he was coming alone. Maybe we should’ve called Cosgrove after all.’_

“You _think?_ ” Dexter hissed, the cringed as Jim raised his eyebrows in shock. Opps.

“You really gonna talk to me like that? If I were you, I’d cut back on the attitude until _after_ I’m done _crushing_ you.” Jim sneered, chest puffing out in pride as his five man posse snickered in agreement.

_'A group of jerks, also known as a Snicker.’_

“S-I’m sorry Jim. I wasn’t-”

Jim lunged forward at Dexter, causing Dexter to stumble back out of fear and fall down. Jim snorted at Dexter’s reaction and looked back at his friends meaningfully.

“Seriously Douglas, _this is it?_ I was expecting you to come with backup or _something_. I mean, even you coming with Steff would have been better than this! At least if you came with her, I could’a had the chance to pulverize you while she watched.”

Dexter stood back up on shaky legs and clenched his fists.

“I don’t want to fight you Jim. I’m sorry I got you in trouble, but I didn’t mean to. You getting grounded for having beer, or for not coming to clean up for only an _hour_ isn’t my fault! I said I was sorry, now _let it go!_ ”

Jim looked honestly surprised for a few moments before bursting into laughter. Dexter slumped a bit and blushed as Jim and his posse openly laughed at him.

_‘Can I come out now?’_

“No…” Dexter said under his breath.

_'He basically Hulk Smashed our pride. This should count as self-defense!’_

“HAHAHAhaha! Ho-holy crap! You’re really bang’in on all four cylinders today aren’t ya Douglas? Haha!” Jim laughed, wiping away a tear and leaning heavily on the brick and mortar wall of the school.

“Okay!... _Whew!_ You know what? Just for that, I’m gonna give you a chance to make it up to me. No strings attached, you just do this one thing, and I’ll let all this slide.”

Dexter straightened up in shock. That had actually worked? Maybe he’d get to walk away from this unscathed after all. Jim stalked forward and loomed over Dexter confidentiality.

“I want you to stop hang’in around Steff.”

Dexter felt his stomach drop. 

_‘Really?! He’s gonna do a ‘stay away from my girl’ ultimatum? She’s not even dating him any-’_

“Steff can do whatever she wants! If she wants to be my friend, then you can’t make her stop and you certainly can’t make me push her away!” Dexter yelled back.

Jim cracked his knuckles threateningly and leaned down to emphasize the height difference.

“So is that a no? Last chance Douglas, no changing your mind after this.”

Dexter stood his ground and clenched his fists. He’d wanted to avoid a fight at all cost but he wasn’t about to promise to some stupid ultimatum about Steff like she was property or something! She was his best friend, no way was he giving that up!

“I’m not promising you _anything_ Jim. Can you just let this go?”

Jim looked back at his posse again and Rick O’Shea stepping forward to stand next to him. The rest of the group followed, surrounding Dexter like a pack of wolves. Jim crossed his arms and took a step back, shaking his head in faux disappointment.

“ _Wrong answer_ Dexturd. You’re gonna wish you didn’t even _know_ Steff after we’re done with you!” 

_'Dexter, I think it’s time! Let me out!’_ Freakazoid warned as Jim’s goons started to advance.

Dexter nodded and crouched in preparation for what was to come.

“Right! _**Freak Out!**_ ”

**SHA-ZAP!**

Jim stumbled back at the bright flash if sparks, his posse all covering their eyes and crying out in shock. 

“ **I LOVE it when we do that!** ” Freakazoid cheered, jumping up from his former crouching position and grinning.

Freakazoid looked around at the frightened and confused looking bullies in disgust, looking down at them all with thinly veiled ill intent.

“Soooo? Who’s up first? Don’t be shy! I don’t bite, unless you _want_ me to~”

Jim recovered first, stomping over to Freakazoid angrily.

“Who the hell are you?! Where's Douglas?” Jim asked, looking behind Freakazoid to see if Dexter was hiding there.

Freakazoid’s smile fell quickly and he grabbed Jim’s collar, hauling him up and glaring daggers into his eyes.

“Are you pulling my leg?! I’m right _here_ Jimmy Johns! So are we gonna fight, or am _I_ gonna have to toss you over this building? Because I _wi-_ ”

_‘Freak! Don’t go overboard. If he doesn't want to fight then you let him go!’_

Freakazoid rolled his eyes and dropped Jim, ignoring the small _‘Ooof!’_ Jim let out at being dropped in favor of checking out the rest of his posse. Just as he turned around, Rick O’Shea slammed into Freakazoids stomach in typical football form.

_“Whoa!” Freakazoid dug his feed into the snow and grabbed firmly onto Rick’s jacket. Before Rick you get a swing in, Freakazoid lifted him over his head and tossed him at the rest of Jim’s friends. Freakazoid chuckled as the rest of Jims goons scattered away from Ricks landing spot, then seemed to collectively decide to make a run for it._

__

__

“ _Aww_. Well _that’s_ disappointing. I thought this was gonna be like one of those boxing movies.” Freakazoid sighed as he crossed his arms.

_'Is Rick okay? You threw him pretty hard.'_

Freakazoid scoffed as he walked over to Rick's prone form and nudged him with his foot in disdain. “I threw him hard _enough_. He rammed into _meM/i > pretty hard. If we hadn’t switched and you’d taken that, you probably woulda passed out!”_

__

__

_‘Can you please just wake him up? Leaving him there would be-’_

_**“AUGH!”**_ Freakazoid cried out as a sharp pain shot up his back. He spun around and slapped whatever it was that hit him, his other hand clasping around the stinging area.

Jim Nasium held his red cheek, a triumphant smirk straining on his smug face. “How’d you like that, huh?” He goaded, his free hand holding the spear point knife he’d used to jab at Freakazoids back.

Freakazoid saw red for a moment, his free hand clenching and unclenching in unbridled anger. This soon to be sidewalk chalk outline thought he could get away with-

_‘Are you okay?! You can run Freak, you don’t have to fight him!’_

Freakazoid froze at the worried tone of Dexter’s voice. Dexter couldn’t feel what he was feeling, could he? The red faded from his vision as he was filled with relief. Freakazoid took a calming breath and checked out the torn area on his shirt. He smiled when he saw that the knife hadn’t left more than a light bruise, slightly darker blue than his skin. No bleeding. Cool!

“I’m fine! You should be more worried about what I plan on doing to Jimmy here.” He growled, grinning evilly at the horror stricken look on Jim’s face at seeing Freakazoid unscathed by his knife. That’s right Jimnastics, squirm for Freakazoid!

_'You need to get that knife away from him! He’s could seriously hurt you! No games, just disarm him!’_

“ _Booooring!_ But fine! I didn’t really enjoy being _stabbed_ anyway.” Freakazoid conceded as Jim seemed to steal his nerves and began circling with knife in hand. Freakazoid followed suit and started circling as well, feeling a small twinge of discomfort from the bruise he’d received from Jim’s knife. He’d rather avoid that knife.

“I like this circling thing we’re doing. Very fun, _very_ lion king.” Freakazoid teased, grinning wider at the offended look Jim gave him.

“Who the hell are you?! Where did you even _come_ from? Did Douglas pay you to come here or something?” Jim badgered, looking slightly hysterical as he looked around for some sign of Dexter’s presence. “Is he here right now?! Come out here Douglas! I _know_ you’re here!”

Freakazoid took his chance and raced forward, one hand grabbing Jim’s wrist holding the knife in a death grip, the other grabbing his jacket collar and picking him up.

“ **Here I am! Did ya miss me?”** Freakazoid crowed, the hand gripping Jim’s stabby hand squeezing painfully tight until Freakazoid heard the sound of Jim’s knife hitting the snow.

Freakazoid kicked the knife away from both Jim and his “unconscious” right hand. He trusted Rick as far as he could throw him, which was admittedly pretty far, but the sentiment still stands!

“D-Don’t kill me man! Please!” Jim raised up the hand Freakazoid wasn’t still attempting to crush in surrender and leaned his head away from him in terror.

Freakazoid rolled his eyes and pulled Jim away from his face in discomfort. “You seriously need to brush your teeth or something. That’s some serious halitosis! _Breath Mints!_ Ever heard of em?”

Jim’s face fell in confusion and Dexter decided to take pity on the guy. 

_'Freak, I think you should let him go. He looks like he’s learned his lesson. Dealing with you is punishment enough.’_

Freakazoid pouted and let go of Jims other hand so he could use it to clutch imaginary pearls in offense. 

“Rude! I’m being helpful right now! And he _stabbed_ me! I mean, it didn’t work but he still _tried!_ ”

Jim’s brows creased in worry as Freakazoid argued with himself. He lowered his surrendering hand and internally prayed to his god of choice for safe passage through this maniacs hell. He just hoped he’d live to see Christmas, grounded or not.

_'Freak, if we want Jim to stop tormenting us we have to let him know his days are numbered in a way he can understand. Just let him know he shouldn’t do this stuff anymore.’_

“Alright then, but I still say a pair of black eyes would have the same effect.” Freakazoid hoisted Jim higher to get his attention, smiling as Jim let out a very unmanly wimper.

“Listen up Jim Jam! I’m here with an agenda! You need to retire this bullying schtick, and pronto.” Freakazoid pulled Jim back down to his eye level and gave him his best I-mean-business, glare. “Because if I ever see you even _looking_ at Dexter Douglas, or anyone else? I'll destroy you Jim. I. Will. _End_ you."

Freakazoid retained eye contact with Jim for a few more seconds, then abruptly smiled and dropped him into the snow. 

“Now get outta here you charming rouge! And take Ricky with you!” Jim nodded and scurried over to Rick, who was miraculously conscious as soon as Jim pulled him up. What a pleasant surprise!

“The same goes for Rick and the rest of your goons Jim! I see all, so don’t let me catch you being naughty!” Freakazoid called after the quickly retreating teens.

Freakazoid put his arms akimbo and let out a sigh of satisfaction. “Well, I don’t know about you, but I think that went pretty well!”

_‘You got stabbed!’_

“Hey! I didn’t say it went great, I said _‘pretty well’_. And besides, the knife didn’t even cut me. Just felt like a really hard jab.” Freakazoid lifted the torn part of his shirt and looked over the bruise. If anything, it looked like it was getting fainter.

_'Well, you still need to be more careful….You did a great job though. Thank you Freak.'_

Freakazoid beamed for a moment, then reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. “So, you wanna call Cosgrove now? I’m feeling pizza and cinnamon knots!”

_‘Shouldn’t we go home?’_

“Why? Mom and Dad are with Duncan at the hospital. Do we really want to hang around the house all day by ourselves?” 

_‘Are you sure we wouldn’t be bothering him?’_

Freakazoid scrolled through his contacts and pressed Cosgrove's name. “Of course not! He said we could call him whenever, and right now counts!” 

Freakazoid held the phone up to his ear and tapped his foot as he listened to the dial tone.

“-Cosgrove here. Is this you kid?” Cosgrove answered.

“Yessir! Hey Cosgrove, wanna get some pizza and cinnamon knots with me?” Freakazoid asked eagerly.

“Sure, I’ll pick you up. Where are you?” Cosgrove said.

“Behind Harry Connick High School.” Freakazoid replied as he began pacing impatiently in a circle.

“Okay. I’m here.” 

Freakazoid froze mid step and almost dropped his phone in shock. He heard the sound of car tires slowing down and sure enough, there Cosgrove was, window pulled own and arm waving Freakazoid over. Freakazoid laughed in a mixture of confusion and delight as he ran over to the police car and jumped into the passenger seat.

“How did you get here to quick?!” Freakazoid puzzled as he put on his seatbelt, looking around the inside of the car for a turbo thruster button or something similar.

“I’m a police officer. It’s my job to get places quick.” Cosgrove answered as he drove to the nearest pizza and cinnamon knot place.

Freakazoid opened his passenger window and stuck his head and tongue out doggy style.

_'You’re so embarrassing…’_

“You’re jus jewous!” Freakazoid said, tongue lolling out in the frosty Christmas wind.

Cosgrove noticed the tear in Freakazoids shirt and frowned.

“What did you do today kid?”

Freakazoid pulled his head back in and grinned. “Nothing much. Just serving out some sweet, sweet justice! I guess I got stabbed too, but it didn’t really do much. I think I might have super skin or something!”

Cosgrove nodded and smiled. “That’s good kid. Could always use some more justice around here. How’s about we get a snow cone after the pizza for your services?”

Freakazoid nodded eagerly and fist pumped. “Sweet! Positive reinforcement! Did you hear that Dexter, we did good!”

_‘Yeah, I heard. Tell Cosgrove thank you for me.’_

“Dexter say thanks! _Ohh!_ There it is!” Freakazoid vibrated in his seat at the sight of the pizza parlor, immediately unbuckling his seatbelt and jumping out of the car the minuet it came to a full stop. 

He was giving one hundred and ten percent when it came to remembering to put on his seatbelt and not messing with any of the buttons in Cosgroves car. He was trying to be well behaved when he was around him. Something about the man just made Freakazoid want to make him proud.

Freakazoid smiled as Cosgrove caught up to him. “So kid, what kind of pizza do you want?”

_‘Get pepperoni and hamburger with mushrooms! I don’t know why but I’ve been craving that for a while. And for the love of everything good, don’t you dare get pineapple!’_

Freakazoid grinned and nodded slightly. “I want Pepperoni and hamburger with pineapple! _Extra_ pineapple.”

_‘Hey!’_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was starting to miss these two, so I decided to write about what Dexter and Freakazoid were getting up to while Matt Grayson was carrying out his dark duties. Big thanks to VoiardGremhaeld21 for being my beta for a junk load of cool ideas and plot points! Because of their help, you can all expect much more villains and adventures to come!


	8. Christmas With Freakazoid!

“So, you got stabbed in the back, and there’s nothing but a bruise?” Cosgrove asked, munching on his third cinnamon knot and leaning on the side of his car.

Freakazoid nodded and threw away his now empty cinnamon knot box. “Yep! Still hurt though. At least the bruise is almost gone.” 

Freakazoid lifted his shirt to show the now almost invisible bruise. It didn’t even hurt anymore. Cosgrove leaned forward and inspected the small bruise for and moment, then leaned back and pulled out another cinnamon knot.

“Pretty impressive. Maybe you have some sort of healing factor.”

Freakazoid snorted and shook his head. “What? That’s _ridiculous!_ ” 

After a few seconds he leaned forward and asked more earnestly. “Do you really think so?”

Cosgrove nodded. “Looks like it. I wouldn’t go testing it out though.”

Freakazoid nodded and leaned against Cosgroves car. “What do you do when someone tries to stab you Cosgrove?”

“I just tell them to cut it out.”

Freakazoid nodded in understanding. “That makes sense.”

***-Can’t get you outta my head~Boy your loving is all I can think about~I just can’t-***

Freakazoid and Cosgrove both started to do the where-is-my-phone macarena before Freakazoid chuckled and grabbed his vibrating butt. 

“That’s me!” Freakazoid pulled out his phone and answered despite Dexter’s mental protests. 

“Yellow! Who dis?” 

“Dexter? It’s Steff! Dexter you wanna come over? I could use some help with your costume.” 

“Steff! Well sure, I’d _love_ to help!” Freakazoid was grinning from ear to ear as he silently swooned, literal hearts bubbling up from his head and popping before they could fly away. 

_‘Don’t! Stop talking! She’ll notice I’m not- you’re not me!’_

Freakazoid ignored Dexter in favor of cradling his phone and grinning like a love sick idiot. 

“That’s great! Come over to my house. My parents aren’t home, so you don’t worry about my mom needling you till you’re in a new christmas sweater.” 

Freakazoid laughed a little too loudly at Stephanie's joke, blushing as he realized how obvious he was being. “Th-that’s great! I’ll head right over!” 

Dexter was divided between being embarrassed at Freakazoids obvious display of their crush, or the strangeness of seeing Freakazoid actually get embarrassed of himself. He didn’t even think the guy got embarrassed. 

Freakazoid put away his phone and cleared his throat, then turned to Cosgrove and clasped his hands pleadingly. “Hey Cosgrove? Can you drop me off at Steff’s place? Don’t mean to treat you like a taxi…” 

Cosgrove swallowed his last cinnamon knot and nodded kindly. “It’s fine kid, Just call me when you need to head back home.” 

Freakazoid rushed forward and gave Cosgrove a big hug, then slid into the car’s passengers seat and buckled his seatbelt eagerly. 

“Thanks Cosgrove! You’re the best!” 

_‘We should switch back Freak. Steff is expecting me.’_

Freakazoid frowned, then sighed and nodded. 

“You’re right. See you later Cosgrove! **_Freak In!_** ” 

Cosgrove leaned away from the flash of sparks and static. Dexter shivered as a particularly strong current flickered down his back. He’d never get used to that. 

Dexter looked over to Cosgrove and smiled awkwardly. 

“Th-thanks for all this Cosgrove. You really _are_ the best.” 

Cosgrove smiled as nodded knowingly, getting into the driver's seat and starting the car. “No problem kid.” ===================================================================== 

“-and so I was thinking we go with this cloth instead! I think it’ll help the feathers stick to it better. What do you think Dexter?” Steff asked earnestly. 

_‘I think you’re the smartest, coolest, most talented person I’ve ever met.’_ Freakazoid sighed dreamily from inside Dexter’s head, 

Dexter held back from smacking his own head and blushed. Why did he have to be like this? Why couldn’t he just bury his feeling like a normal person instead of voicing every single thing Dexter had ever thought? It was torture!’ 

“Dexter? Are you okay?” Steff leaned forward, brows creased slightly in worry. 

Dexter shuffled back from Steff onto the other side of her living room couch and blushed in embarrassment. He’d forgotten to answer! 

“Uh, yes? Sorry Steff, I don’t get clothing design like you do…” Dexter scratched his neck and looked away. Steff huffed in playful exasperation and leaned back again. 

“Dexter! You’re probably one of the smartest people I know. You pick things up like a magic eraser. You probably know more about- _I don’t know_ -paper clips, than I know about clothing design.” 

_‘Actually, about that paper clip thing-’_

“ _Steeeffff_...You're being embarrassing…” Dexter wined, one hand covering his face on instinct. 

At this point Dexter was a blushing mess. Steff was always complimenting him, and it always managed to make him super flustered. 

_‘Maybe she’s flirting! Maybe she likes us back Dexter! Ask her! **Ask her!** ’_

Dexter just shook his head, not bothering to tell Freakazoid the countless reasons why that would never happen. Steff giggled at Dexter and gave him a consoling side hug. 

“I’m _soooorry!_ I just can’t help it! You’re adorable when you get all humble. Which you are, by the way.” 

Dexter gave her a wry smile and shook his head again. “Well what am I supposed to say to that? If I say I’m not, I am, and if I say I am, then you win. Way to put me in a corner Steff.” 

Steff straightened up proudly and smiled.”I know, I’m a genius.” She jokingly gloated, then giggled at her ridiculous display. “I’m also _very_ humble, as you can tell.” 

Dexter relaxed and chuckled, then picked up Steff’s new sketches and looked them over again. 

“So Bird Plane Girl? Is that even a thing?” He asked, looking over the designs critically. 

Steff shrugged as she folded the cloth she’d been showing off and set it aside. 

“If there’s a popular superhero, he’s gonna have a girl version eventually. So if there isn’t one already, you can bet there will be.” 

Dexter raised a hand in an effort to disprove the theory, but after a moment of thought, he dropped it and shrugged. “You got me. Bet you ten bucks someone at the con pretends to recognize you from the official comics.” 

Steff grinned and pulled a twenty, slapping it on the table dramatically. “I bet you double someone at the con really _does_ recognize me from the official comics and proves it to me!” 

_‘She’s amazing. Dexter for the love of everything deep fried and covered in cheese, ASK HER OUT!’_

Dexter ignored the worryingly familiar train of thought and put on his most confident smile. 

“ _Deal_. Get ready to fork over that twenty when we go to the con, cause I’ve _never_ heard of Bird Plane Girl!” He challenged, leaned forward and grinning. 

“Well you better _get_ familiar Dexter, cause you’re gonna be hearing a lot about her once we get to that con.” Steff shot back, leaning forward till their noses were almost touching. 

_‘Now kiss her!’_

Dexter suddenly blushed at the proximity reminder and leaned back, laughing awkwardly and rubbing his neck. Steff just smiled and pulled the costume sketches from Dexter’s hands. She tucked some hair behind her ear and blushed slightly, looking up at Dexter through her eyelashes. 

“Thanks for all you help today Dexter. Master clothing designer or not, I still appreciate it.” 

Dexter’s mouth suddenly went dry and all he could think was-what were we talking about again? 

_‘You were going to ask Steff if she wanted to go on a date with us. Don’t you remember? We talked about this.’_

Freakazoid’s voice snapped him out of his stupor and Dexter held back explaining that they’d talked about how they were _never_ asking her out, _not_ the other way around! 

“It’s really no problem Steff. You’re the one helping me make my costume, I should be thanking you…” 

Steff smiled warmly. “Then I guess we both owe each other, huh? How about you make it up to me by taking me to the Valentines Day Dance?” 

_‘Dexter, I think we’re hallucinating. What were in those cinnamon knots?’_

Dexter’s mouth fell open in shock a he tried to articulate a coherent response. “A-are you serious?” 

Steff flushed and looked down, biting her lip anxiously. “I get if you have someone else you were planning to go with. I just thought-” 

_‘Never mind, this is REAL! Say yes!’_

“Uh, no! No I’m-I’m not going with anybody...I’d lo- _really_ like to go with you.” 

Steff eyes lit up and she beamed at him, then pulled Dexter into a quick hug. “That’s awesome! It’s gonna be the best dance ever!” 

Dexter hugged back on instinct and blushed a bit, then frowned as he pulled away. “Not that I don’t like the idea of going to the dance with you, but didn’t anyone else want to go with you?” 

Steff crossed her arms and rolled her eyes.”Well, yeah, a couple guys did ask me. I just think it’d be more fun if I went with someone I actually _like_. Most of the guys who asked don’t even _know_ me.” 

She leaned back into the couch cushions and nudged Dexter playfully. “Besides, these dances aren’t exactly known for their stellar party planning. I might be a member of the student council, but I can only do so much! I’d feel a lot better if I had a friend there to distract me from the corny decorations and the cruddy playlist.” 

Dexter nodded sympathetically. From what Steff told him about the student council, it had probably been a nightmare planning the dance with them. She’d told him she’d had to spend an entire week convincing the rest of the council to allow public hand holding. 

_‘Did you hear that? She said she likes us! She turned down other guys for **us!'**_

_‘She also said she’d feel a lot better with a friend’_ , Dexter though back in frustration. 

***-Mommaaaaaaa~Just killed a maaaaaan~Put a gun against his head, pull-***

Dexter jumped when his phone vibrated in his pocket and he pulled it out to answer, giving Steff and apologetic shrug. He tapped his screen and relaxed at the name that popped up. It was his mom. 

“Sorry, Steff. I need to take this.” Dexter pressed answer as Steff nodded. 

“-uncan, you’re fine. Dexter? Hey sweetie! How are you? Have you eaten anything today?” 

Dexter smiled, standing and walking over to Steff’s kitchen for a bit of privacy. 

“I’m fine mom. Actually, officer Cosgrove took me out for pizza, so I’m good food wise. Besides, I still have leftovers if I get hungry.” 

“Oh really? That’s so nice of him! Remember to say thank you Dexter. He’s been such a great help to us recently.” 

Dexter leaned against the kitchen counter and chuckled. “Yeah, I did mom, don’t worry. I’m actually at Steff’s right now. Cosgrove’s gonna drop me off back home when I leave, so I’ll give him a thank you from you too.” 

“That would be great honey. I’m sorry I we can’t be with you right now, especially right before Christmas-” 

“It’s _fine_ mom. We’ll all be together for Christmas tomorrow anyway, and that’s all that really matters.” Dexter comforted. 

“I know Dex, I just worry sometimes. I’m just glad you’ve been safe with officer Cosgrove today. I don't know _what_ I’d do if something happened to you while I was gone.” 

Dexter shifted nervously and unconsciously grabbed onto the torn area of his shirt. 

_‘Yeaaaaaah...Don't tell mom.’_

Dexter laughed anxiously. “Something happen to me? After yesterday? Fat chance! Or-or is it slim chance? Well, in any case, I’m staying out of trouble, so, no need to worry!” 

“I’ll try not to! Between you and your brother, I know you tend to be the responsible one.” Debbie laughed. 

“Well, I have to go sweetie. You be good okay? And say hi to Steff for me!” 

Dexter nodded as he pushed himself off the counter. “Sure mom. Love you, bye.” 

“Love you more! ***Beep*** ” 

Dexter sighed and went back to sit on the living room couch, shoving his phone into his pocket. 

“So, not that I was snooping or anything, but…” 

Dexter froze as Steff leaned closer to him looked over him suspiciously. 

“That’s one serious tear you got there. Did you try to cut your shirt or something?” Steff reached over and pulled at the torn piece of the shirt curiously. 

_‘So, I say we tell her we got in a knife fight with an owl and won! Just a suggestion.’_

“Uh, duh, that’s-I-I don’t know what that’s from, actually. You’re-you’re guess is as good as mine!” 

Steff raised her eyebrows in a confused manner and pulled back. After a full second of narrowing down alternative routes, Dexter decided running for the hills would be easier than explaining the last two days to his best friend. 

“Um, actually! I should be heading home.” Dexter stood up quickly and speed walked his way to Steff’s front door before the girl could protest. “See you later Steff! " 

He didn't think he’d ever know how to tell her about what was happening to him. What would she even think of Freakazoid? What if she thought he was crazy? No way was he risking that! 

“Dexter!? Uh, bye! I guess? See you!” Steff called after him as he continued to power walk out the door and down the sidewalk. Dexter waved goodbye awkwardly and turned a corner, feeling the anxiety slowly drain from his blood stream the farther he got from Steff’s house. 

_'Whew! That was a close one! If we’d stayed any longer she might have suspected something. Good thing you’re about as smooth a chunky peanut butter without the butter!’_

Dexter grabbed his hair and pulled at it in frustration. “I know! I just get so nervous-” 

_‘Yeah, no kidding! I can feel it Dexter, it’s so distracting! You know if it were me-’_

“If it had been you, you would have been a total creep! Speaking of, thanks for the helpful commentary! Really needed you there, listing off your favorite things about Steffs hair.” 

_'Our favorite things! And I can’t help it! I’m being serious, I **literally** can’t stop. It’s kind of embarrassing actually.’_

Dexter slowed his pace and scoffed. “You can feel embarrassed? Stop the presses! Freakazoid has the ability to exercise prudence!” 

_'Very funny. You’re a comic **and a coward!’**_

Dexter stopped and smacked his forehead, cringing at the sting but smirking at the sound of Freakazoid’s yells of protest. 

“I’m _not_ a coward, I’m just prioritizing my relationships! Be honest Freak, do you really think Steff couldn't do way better than us?” Dexter rubbed his forehead tenderly and rolled his eyes at the sound of Freakazoid grumbling insults. 

_'Well it seems like I inherited all of moms optimism, cause I’m gonna give you a strong maybe!’_

Dexter started walking again and gave Freakazoid an unimpressed frown. “Wow. Really layering it on thick, aren’t you?” 

_‘It’s not my fault we have such low self esteem. I’m trying here, you’re just not giving me a lot to work with.’_

Dexter slowed as the neighborhood gave way to a cluster of small business buildings. He looked both ways, then quickly ran across the street to the printing company on the other side. 

_‘We’re a superhero for Pete’s sake! Yet you’ve still retained the self confidence of a one off side character.’_

As Dexter strolled down the sidewalk passed the printing building he burst out laughing. 

“ _What?!_ Haha! How? How are we a superhero in any way?” 

_‘You want a list? We have a rich arch nemesis, we have super powers, you’re mild mannered as **heck** \- no offense.’_

“Offense taken!” 

_‘-and we served out justice! Like a hero does! Think of how impressed Steff would be if she knew what we can do!'_

Dexter’s steps faltered for a moment. “Gutierrez _isn’t_ our nemesis, we have _one_ power, and we didn’t serve out justice! That skin thing was probably a fluke. We almost got stabbed by a sixth grader and for all you know, Jim was using a dull knife!” 

_‘We both that’s not true. Jim isn’t the type to actually use that knife outside of showing it off. That thing might as well have been brand knew!’_

“So what? We’re still nothing like a superhero. Hero’s fight super villains! All we have around here is petty theft and assault. I think Cosgrove can take care of that kind of thing.” 

_‘We could **try.’**_

Dexter sighed and shook his head. “Freak, we _really_ shouldn’t be calling attention to ourselves right now. Unless we’re fighting in self defense, I don't think we should be doing any heroics.” 

_‘.......’_

“Freak? Look, you can still come out and hang around with Cosgro-” 

_‘Didn’t you see that? Dexter the alley you just passed! Back up, **back up!** ’_

Dexter stopped at Freakazoids urgent tone and looked back at the gap between a bank and an ice cream place he’d just walked passed. 

_‘Wait! Stay near the wall, don’t let him see you!’_

Dexter went against the brick wall of the ice cream place and frowned in worry. “Who? Don’t let who see me?” He whispered anxiously. Why couldn’t today be normal? 

_‘Just look! But be careful!’_

Dexter scooted along the wall, stopping at the corner and peeking into the alley. There were two men at the very back, but it was a little too dark to see much. It was getting late and the shadows were making it hard to see anything other than two silhouettes. 

“Freak, what am I seeing?” Dexter whispered. 

_‘I must have saw them when they were closer. Some guy’s getting mugged! We have to do something!’_

“No. No we don’t. We need to call Cosgrove so he can do his job. He’ll be here in no time, just give me a second.” 

Dexter pulled out his phone and quickly pushed Cosgroves name. He felt the stress of the situation as he paced and Cosgrove didn’t answer, the dial tone playing uselessly. Why now of all times was he busy?! 

_‘Dexter, switch with me! That suit guy could be getting hurt!’_

“We can’t! What if he has a gun? Or-or it’s not even a mugging-” 

**“HELP! HE-”**

Dexter trailed off as the sound of a violent scuffle cut off the stranger in the alley. Freak was right. He needed to do something. Dexter pressed his back against the brick wall and took a deep breath. 

“Be _careful_ Freak. _**Freak Out!**_ ” 

**SHA-ZAP!**

“I _will_ be!” Freakazoid promised as he ran straight into the alley. Stopping a few feet away from the two men Freakazoid did the only thing that came to mind. 

“ **HEY!**....Cut it out.” 

_‘Seriously?!’_

Freakazoid ignored Dexter in favor of looking over the suit guy for any injuries. He didn’t know why Dexter hadn’t been able to see them properly. Sure, it was kinds dark but Freakazoid could see them perfectly well. 

The guy getting mugged was in a nice business suit and seemed to be protecting a suitcase, wincing at the thick cut on his left cheek the mugger had given him. The mugger was dressed in a green turtleneck and had a gray beanie over his ratty brunette hair. 

The mugger looked over Freakazoid with the most baffled expression Freak had ever seen. It would have been really funny in pretty much any other situation. Wait no, scratch that. It was still funny. 

“What the hell are you supposed to be? Frankenstein's brother? Get outta here kid!” The mugger sneered, fisting the suit guys collar and holding up a sharp pocket knife. 

Freakazoid grimaced at the knife and crossed his arms defensively. “A knife? _Really?_ What is it with knives today? Is it a theme?” 

The suit guy looked between Freakazoid and the mugger and seemed to be trying to convey some kind of message to Freakazoid through frantic eye movements and eyebrow twitches. Freakazoid felt a small pang of pity at the state the guy was in. He seemed to be having it pretty rough. 

“I said _back off!_ Walk away _right now_ or I _swear_ I’ll stab your face off!” The mugger threatened, waving his knife around wildly. 

Freakazoid glared at the knife and rushed forward, catching it by the blade right before it hit his face. 

_‘Whoa! Are you-is that cutting you right now?’_

The mugger paled as Freakazoid tightened his grip on the blade and yanked it out from his hand, causing the man to stumbled forward in shock and let go of the suit guys collar. The suit guy scrambled away from the mugger and ran to cower behind Freakazoid, still gripping his suitcase protectively. 

Freakazoid grinned and looked over the blade curiously. It had felt uncomfortable to squeeze, but it wasn’t cutting him or even bruising. 

“Hah! I _told_ you I had super skin!” Freakazoid gloated. He briefly considered keeping the knife, but it wasn’t really his style. He grabbed the knife by the handle and jammed it into the brick wall of the ice cream store, making sure it was pushed all the way in. He really didn’t like knives, they were annoying. 

“You- _you-!_ ” The mugger looked at the hilted pocket knife in horror then turned to look back a Freakazoid in a new, threatening light. He crouched, then pulled back his fist and swung at Freakazoid face desperately. Freakazoid ducked, then decided to take a page out of Rick O’Sheas book. Specifically, the football manual. 

_“HUT HUT!”_ Freakazoid barked out. He clenched his fists and tackled the mugger with all his weight. 

**_“Urgh!”_** The mugger was slammed into the wall at the end of the alley. 

Freakazoid grinned and quickly pulled back, looked down at the mugger as the man fell to his knees and started coughing. Hopefully this guy was down for the count. 

“Who _are_ you? Why-why are you blue?” 

Freakazoid turned around and took a nervous step back as the suit guy questioned him. He’d almost forgotten he was still there. Why was he still here? 

“ _Uhhhhhhh_...Are you okay? You got some...on your face?” Freakazoid said awkwardly. He was bad at deflecting, but he would at least get an A for effort! 

“My face?” The suit guy went to touch the bleeding cut on his cheek but quickly pulled his hand away. “Oh! Yes, I’m-I’ll be okay. I just-Thank You! Thank you so much!” The suit guy stepped forward and grabbed Freakazoids hands, shaking them earnestly and smiling in relief. 

“You saved me! Thank you for helping me! My name’s Robin, Robin Banks!” 

Freakazoid smiled at the show of appreciation and after looking over his shoulder to make sure Mr.Stabs-A-Lot wasn’t getting up again, turned back to Robin and pulled them both out of the alley. 

“You’re welcome Robin, just doing my part! Speaking of the parts we play, am I right to assume you got a junk load of cash in that suitcase there?” Freakazoid craned his neck to see the mystery suitcase the Robin was currently hiding behind his back. 

Robin froze, then shook his head meekly, taking a cautious step away from Freakazoid. “Uh no, not _money_ …” 

Freakazoid grinned as his curiosity was thoroughly agitated and took a purposeful step forward. 

"Not money? Then why was that guy after you? What’s in the suitcase Robin? Counterfeit chocolate coins? Super weapons? Rare hard candy? _Government secrets?_ ” 

With each question Freakazoid took another looming step forward and with each step Robin shrank back even more. 

_‘You’re creeping him out Freak. Cut it out.’_

Freakazoid pouted and took a hesitant step back. Was he being weird? He was just curious! “Uh, well, whatever it is, I’m just glad I could help? You should get outta here, I’ll call the police so don’t worry about Mr.Stabby.” 

Robin nodded and ran off to his car, jumping into the driver's seat and driving away so quickly the tires screeched. 

“Wow. Maybe he left the stove on?” 

_‘Or maybe you freaked him out more than a literal mugger with a knife? What’s with you?’_

Freakazoid pulled out his phone and called Cosgrove again. “We were just curious. Don’t tell me you didn’t want to see what was in that suitcase, I know you did. It’s not like I forced him to show me!” 

“-Hey kid. Sorry I missed your call, I was busy. Where are you?” 

Freakazoid felt the rush of his earlier fight start to drain from him and he grinned in relief at the sound of Cosgroves voice. 

“I’m in front of the ice cream place near Steffs house. Do have your handcuffs on you? I think you’re gonna need them.” 

Freakazoid quickly hung up as Cosgroves car came around the corner and slowed in front of him. Cosgrove got out of the car and walked over to Freakazoid in concern. 

“What’s up kid?” 

Freakazoid pointed over to the darkened alley. “I beat up this guy who was attacking Robin and trying to steal his mystery suitcase. He’s still in there.” 

Cosgrove raised an eyebrow skeptically, then pulled his cuffs out and went into the alley. 

_‘That was pretty cool. The whole stopping a mugger thing, I mean.’_

Freakazoid went over to the police car and slid into the driver's seat. “I know! Don’t deny it, you kinda felt like a superhero back there right?” 

_‘...A little.’_

Freakazoid jumped up and down excitedly, accidentally rocking the entire car as he did. “Seeee?! It’s destiny Dexter, this is our calling!” 

_‘I wouldn't go that far. What’s with this sudden superhero obsession?'_

Freakazoid froze, then looked down at his hands and twiddled his thumbs nervously. “Well...I just think, if we were a superhero, maybe we’d be good enough for Steff…” 

_‘....I hate to say this, but I was kind of thinking that too.’_

Freakazoid sighed and slumped in his seat. “Of _course_ you were. If I think it, it’s only cause you do too. Was kind of hoping you’d deny it though.” 

_‘Why?’_

Freakazoid shrugged. “Because if we’re agreeing on something, then I have to do it. You’re like, ninety-five percent of my impulse control. At least if you’d denied it, we’d have an excuse to not do it.” 

_‘You're seriously going to try to be a superhero?’_

Freakazoid sat up again and nodded in determination. “Like mom always says, _“There is no try, only do!”_. We’re gonna be an awesome superhero!” 

****

****

_‘I think we should at least get a second opinion. And therapy. For you. You should go to therapy.’_

Freakazoid laughed dryly and slapped his knee. “HAHAHa! Oh _Dexter_ , you crack me up! But yes to that second opinion thing. I nominate Cosgrove!” 

“Nominate me for what?” Cosgrove asked, pushing a angry looking mugger into the back of the car. 

Freakazoid gave the mugger a threatening smile that wiped the scowl right off his face, then turned back to Cosgrove. “Me and-” 

_‘Don’t say my name in front of that guy!’_

“-my other me were wondering if we could be a superhero. What do you think?” 

Cosgrove got into the driver's seat and started the car. “You really want my advice?” 

Freakazoid nodded eagerly and put on his seatbelt. 

“Freakazoid, crime fighting is a serious job. If you really want to be a superhero, you’re going to have to put the lives of others before your own. You should only do it if you want to help people. Are you doing it to help people?” 

Freakazoid shrunk back a bit and shrugged. “Do _I_ count as people?” He tried. 

Cosgrove stared him down for a few seconds, then smiled and began driving in the direction of Dexter’s home. “You do count as people. I think both of you would be better off thinking things over before you make any decisions. Being a hero is a pretty big job, and you’re only sixteen.” 

Freakazoid relaxed and nodded. He looked back at the mugger who was being weirdly silent only to see he was currently trying to push himself as far away from Freakazoid as possible. Freakazoid gave the mugger another smile, then tuned to Cosgrove worriedly. 

“Did I do the right thing? The whole stopping-the-mugger thing? It was my first time, so I don’t really have much of a basis for the etiquette.” 

Cosgrove smiled and nodded. “You did a good job today kid. Defending yourself and helping others is always a victory in my book.” 

Freakazoid beamed at the praise and puffed out his chest. “Thanks Cosgrove, glad I could get OCA on my work.” 

“OCA?” 

“Official Cosgrove Approval! So are you throwing this guy in jail?” FReakazoid asked, pointing the frightened looked man in the back seat. 

Cosgrove nodded. “Yup. Can you tell me the name of the person he tried to assault?” 

“You mean Robin Banks? Why?” Freakazoid asked. 

“Names are important. Also, I was curious.” Cosgrove responded nonchalantly 

Before Freakazoid could respond to that, the car slowed to a stop in front of his house. Freakazoid looked over to his home in confusion for a moment, then shrugged. Cosgrove did say being fast was a part of his job. 

“I still owe you a snow cone kid. Just call me and we’ll go.” Cosgrove said as Freakazoid closed the car door and started heading for his front door. 

Freakazoid gave Cosgrove a thumbs up, walking backwards to his door while doing so. “Will do! Merry Christmas Cosgrove!” 

Cosgrove smiled and gave Freakazoid a thumbs in reply, then drove off into the night. Freakazoid watched the car go till he couldn’t see it anymore, then went to his front door and went inside. 

_‘Christmas is tomorrow? Why does it feel like today’s been months long?’_

Freakazoid locked the door behind him and raced up to his room. “I dunno! Maybe because we’ve won more fights in one day than in our entire life combined?” 

Freakazoid slammed his bedroom door behind him and his eyes immediately locked onto Mr.Chubbikins. 

_‘Don’t you **dare**. You traumatized him last time! He has a fear of blankets now because of you!’_

Freakazoid cringed as he resisted the urge to scoop up Mr.Chubbikins and threw himself onto his bed in exasperation. 

“FINE! If I can’t hug him, then you do it for me! _**Freak In!**_ ” 

**SHA-ZAP!**

Dexter jolted up, shuddering at the tingling sensation the static sparks left him and frowning. He could have at least warned him! 

“Don’t be a baby about it Freak. If you just pet him like a normal person then I wouldn’t have to keep you from him. Speaking of Mr.Chubbikins…” Dexter got off the bed and went downstairs to the kitchen to check on Mr.Chubbikins food and water. 

_‘We should get him a fish! Cats still eat fish right?’_

Dexter smiled and shook his head. “No way. Think of the smell! Besides, we’re feeding Mr.Chubbikins enough as is.” 

Dexter changes the cats water, the sighed as his stomach growled. He’d hadn’t eaten since Cosgrove had taken them to get pizza. He opened the fridge and after looking over the leftover choices, took out a container of tuna casserole. 

“Leftovers it is…” He said as he loosened the lid to the container and pushed the casserole into the microwave. 

_‘Hey Dexter?’_

Dexter watched the slowly spinning food dully. _“Hmmm?”_

_‘We could be good enough. For Steff I mean. If we really tried, we could be.’_

Dexter sighed and straightened up. “You sound so sure... _How_ can you be so sure?” 

_'We wanna be happy Dex, I **have** to be. One of us has to be sure.’_

Dexter cracked a weak smile, the microwave beeping as he did. “ And being a superhero. That’s our plan?” 

_‘I dunno. We kinda want it to be. Who knows? We could be really good at it!’_

Dexter pulled out his food and took out a fork. “Or we could be a total failure. We could end up hurting people instead of helping them! I just don’t think we should risk it.” 

_‘I think we should at least **try**. We did something good today, you can't deny that! Just one more try, just to see? Please?’_

Dexter shoved some casserole into his mouth and thought about it. Freakazoid was a wildcard with super strength and durability who never seemed to think about the consequences of anything he did. 

_‘Hey! I can hear you!’_

On the other hand, Freak was technically some weird sort of extension of him. He wanted the same things he wanted, just with little regard to the aftermath of his actions. He wasn’t a bad guy, he just needed...impulse control. 

_“-You’re like, ninety-five percent of my impulse control.-”_

And Freakazoid had _him_. In his head, always there to make sure he wouldn’t take things too far. As far as he could tell, Freakazoid seemed to respect his opinions too. Maybe if they worked together- 

_‘See? We could make it work. And if it doesn't? At least we tried!’_

“I...okay, _maybe_ we could try. But only if there’s an actual threat! We’re not going out patrolling or anything like that!” 

_‘YES!’_

Dexter tried to think of something discouraging to counter with, but Freakazoids optimism was contagious. He smiled and ate another forkful of his mom’s casserole. The chances of anything hero worthy happening were slim to none, but considering how his last two days had been, who knew? With his luck, he’d be battling a radioactive zombie cowboy or something by Saturday. 

_‘Zombie Cowboy? And you say I’m weird.’_

Dexter shrugged. For now, the only thing he was seriously looking forward to was Christmas. Just a day full of family and food and presents. Dexter looked over to the window as small flakes of snow started to fall, then looked down at his watch and grinned. 

“Merry Christmas Freakazoid!” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two chapters in one day! I was originally planning one making one, but it got too long. Oops!
> 
> I was planning on giving Freakazoid an epic superhero debut! I still plan to, but I like to think this mugger situation was technically his first selfless heroic act. And aren't Steff and Dexter cute together? Ahh young love, they say it never lasts! Lets hope Dexter grows a spine and prevails anyway!


End file.
